An Assassin's Changes
by ScribbleWiggy
Summary: Hainin Marshal, Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, is completely content with his way of life. When vampires and vampire hunters alike try to impose on that way of life, however, Hainin must go on a quest to try and return things to normal, all the while discovering things about himself that he did not know before his journey began.
1. Murder and Morthal

**Y'all know the drill. I don't own Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, or any of its characters, but I do own Hainin Marshal.**

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Blood sparkled on the snow as the assassin drew his weapon from his most recent kill. He wiped the dagger on the ground to rid it of the red liquid that shrouded the black blade. He lifted it from the ground and slid it into the black leather scabbard at his hip before standing. He gazed down at the dead man's face, seeing nothing but the eyes. The gray eyes, empty of life and full of death. There was no denying that this man was in the Void.

The assassin squatted down to search his kill. The man had been leaning against a tree, whimpering for mercy, whether from the wound he already had on his leg that was oozing pus even as the assassin searched him, or from the assassin himself, whom had loomed over the soldier with his dagger drawn. The assassin found a note hidden behind the Stormcloak soldier's breastplate, and he unfolded it to see what it said.

 _Ralof,_

 _Know that what I write now, I write as I am working my way back to Windhelm and King Ulfric. I have neither abandoned my king nor my brothers and sisters in arms; I was merely waylaid on my journey home. I hope to the Divines that no one thinks I have left you all for dead, mainly because I was beginning to think Ulfric was starting to like me, and I don't aim for him to see me as a deserter._

 _All I wanted was to see my wife one last time. That's all it was. I knew that the battle of Whiterun would be my last, and I did not want to have left my lady on the note I did. You'll be pleased to know she refused my apology, but by now I suppose it doesn't matter, mainly because the battle is over._

 _At least we won, though I don't think I have the right to say "we". I wasn't there, after all, and I don't have any glory in the victory. The only songs that will be sung with my name in them will be the one telling of the lovesick soldier who deserted his brothers and sisters for his wife._

 _Won't that make for a lovely tune?_

 _I hope to be back in Windhelm, soon. Keep some ale on hand for me, brother. I'm sure I'll need it._

 _Larroi Stone-Fist_

Hainin Marshal crumbled the note in his fist and dropped it beside the dead Stormcloak. "You won neither wife nor battle, sir," he said, almost feeling sorry for the soldier. "But I suppose there's nothing to be done about it now."

Without another word, Hainin turned away from the man and started towards Shadowmere, whom he had left by the road he had been traveling on. Coming back to Dawnstar from a target in Windhelm was never a good trip; it was always snowing up on the mountain road, and the lower road was always clogged with vile creatures of some sort. Hainin had decided to brave the lower path, and found several packs of wolves, a sabre cat, some snow, and a dying Stormcloak.

At least he had something to tell the rest of the Family when he returned to the Sanctuary.

Hainin climbed up into Shadowmere's saddle and clicked his tongue at the horse. "C'mon, boy," he murmured, "let's go home."

Shadowmere whickered and started a fast trot down the cobblestone road. Hainin gripped the reins tightly in his gloved hands as he thought about the Stormcloak. _I wonder how he would have felt if he'd known that he wasn't anywhere near to Windhelm's gates._

The note had said his name was Larroi Stone-Fist. Hainin had a recollection of killing another Larroi a while ago, though he couldn't say exactly how long. It had certainly been before he had joined the Dark Brotherhood. It had probably been a kill just to keep his blade sharp, and for no real purpose other than to kill.

He'd been like that for a while, killing senselessly because he had nothing else to do. The old hag that had gotten him into the Brotherhood had actually been one of those kills; he hadn't appreciated the way she had been talking to the orphans. Astrid hadn't been kidding when she'd said the bitch had deserved it.

Astrid… Hainin let out a breath, and realized that his fingers were turning numb from holding onto the reins so tightly. He relaxed his grip, flexing his fingers. Astrid had given him a home, and even though she'd tried to have him killed, and gotten the Family killed in the process, he would forever be grateful to her. She was surely getting what she deserved down in the Void, but in the back of his mind, Hainin hoped it wasn't too harsh of a punishment.

And the whole Family wasn't killed, Hainin reflected. There was still Babette, the vampire child. Cicero was alive as well, thanks to Hainin's own self-realization that if he killed Cicero, he'd be killing off the last person who understood what the real Dark Brotherhood was. And Nazir.

A faint grin crossed over Hainin's face that he quickly got rid of. For whatever reason, he couldn't forget what had happened between himself and the Redguard assassin. He'd tried to pass it off as a drunken act of stupidity, but there was still something about it that he couldn't… get over.

Hainin's lips tingled, and he wiped at them with the back of his gloved hand before reaching behind him to pull up his hood. His fingers reached for the red fabric that covered his mouth, and he adjusted it so that it covered his nose as well. Even on the lower roads, it was still bloody cold.

He thought back to his previous idea of traveling towards Riften until the snow passed, but decided against it. For whatever reason, he couldn't say; the others were certainly more than capable of taking care of themselves while he was away, even though he was the one who was supposed to give out contracts to the rest of the assassins. He was the only one who could hear the Night Mother, and he needed to be there to listen. As the Listener, it was his duty.

" _So you're a listener? I like that."_

He shook his head to get Astrid's words out of it. She hadn't liked it at all, if her actions were any indication. Babette and Nazir had forgiven her, at least, and the jester had seemed to forget all about her once he learned the Night Mother was in charge again.

Hainin wondered briefly if his Family knew the Stormcloaks had won the Battle of Whiterun. The news had reached him as he was entering Windhelm a few days before. The soldiers left in the city were whooping and cheering in excitement. Hainin had been able to draw what they were so happy about from a drunk in Candlehearth Hall. "The true sons and daughters of Skyrim have done it!" the drunk had slurred. "They showed those idiotic Imperials what's what!"

Hainin had let the mark about 'idiotic Imperials' slide; what did he care of other people thinking about his race? He was an assassin; as far as he knew, he could be a Redguard like Nazir. He'd certainly been in Skyrim long enough to be a Nord. By Sithis, he could even be an Orc!

That thought made him chuckle a bit. He wouldn't be a pretty Orc; no Orcs were pretty, ever. He'd once made the mistake of trying to get an Orcish maid into his bed, just to see what it was like. The attempted seduction had gotten him a broken lip and an ugly bruise on his eye. He hadn't tried to seduce an Orc since, and he wouldn't be any time soon.

Hainin sighed and relaxed in the saddle, reaching forward to pat Shadowmere on the neck. "All night ride and we're home, pal," he told the black stallion.

Shadowmere tossed his head in response. Hainin agreed with him entirely; he didn't know if he wanted to travel through the night, either. If he was correct, they'd make it too Morthal by nightfall, and then it was north to Dawnstar from there.

Traveling north at night was never safe; Hainin was brave, but he didn't want to risk Shadowmere slipping on some snow and breaking a leg or something. He would hate to lose his horse, and not just because riding was quicker than walking. He loved Shadowmere dearly.

Hainin glanced up at the sky. It was hard to tell where the sun was, since the sky was covered in heavy gray clouds. He let out a breath and brought his head down again. They would just keep riding until they reached Morthal, no matter what time it was when they got there.

He squeezed Shadowmere's sides gently with his thighs to urge him forward. The horse picked up his pace to a slow canter, and Hainin scratched his ears. "Good boy."

Shadowmere nickered in response. Hainin relaxed into the saddle and leaned back. _It won't be much longer,_ he thought to himself. _And when we get there, warm food and a warm bed await for me, as well as a warm stable for Shadowmere._

That wasn't what waited for him at all. Instead, he found a city darkened by nightfall and by mourning, as well as a city that did not have a stable.

"How do you not have a stable?" the assassin exclaimed as he glared at one of the city guards.

The guard lifted his armored shoulders. "The house that was next to it caught fire and sent the stable burning to the ground." When Hainin only continued to glare, the guard held out his hands. "It was a big fire. Sorry, citizen, but there's no stable for your horse."

Hainin huffed and took Shadowmere's reins in his hand. "Thanks for nothing, I suppose," he growled to the guard before he turned and led the stallion away. Gazing around Morthal, it didn't surprise him they didn't have a stable. The whole town was built on the edge of the lake, some of the buildings even _above_ the lake, held up by wooden docks.

He sighed and glanced at Shadowmere. "Sorry," he said, "but it looks like you'll be spending the night outside."

Shadowmere snorted, and Hainin led him past the city limits to a grassy clearing nearby. He studied the grass, determining if Shadowmere would be able to eat it. It seemed normal enough, so he nodded to it. "See, there's your dinner, since they don't have any hay." He reached into the saddle bag and produced several carrots. He held one out to the horse, and Shadowmere took it between his teeth. It crunched a few times, and Shadowmere reached for another.

Hainin fed him the rest of the carrots before patting his neck. "You'll stay here, right? Won't run away?" Shadowmere nuzzled his shoulder, and Hainin scratched his nose. "I'll see you in the morning."

He stalked back over the frosted grass to Morthal again, his booted feet crunching against the thick dew as he did so. The sun had gone down completely, and Hainin was beginning to get cold. He shivered and tugged his cloak tighter around his shoulders as he shuffled towards the Moorside Inn.

He pushed his way inside and was greeted by a large fire. Hainin breathed out a sigh and sank down into an empty chair as the innkeep called to him: "Just take a seat, and I'll be over to see you in a moment!"

Hainin merely waved his hand. He didn't want to talk to anyone in this stinking city, especially since they didn't have a stable for Shadowmere to sleep in where he would be warm and comfortable throughout the cold night. It was only likely that it was going to get colder, and he didn't want Shadowmere catching a cold. If the horse did, they would be stuck in this Gods forsaken town until it passed, and Hainin was not looking forward to having to do that.

The innkeep approached him. She was an aging Redguard; he could tell that much by the gray shade of her hair. However, her face was free of wrinkles, and he had to admit her bust was still perky, as little a bust as it was.

She smiled down at him. "Welcome to the Moorside Inn. What can I be getting ya?"

"Anything hot," he answered almost instantly. She nodded, and he pulled a small coin purse from his belt pouch. "I'll be needing a room for the night, too," he told her.

She took the purse, shook it, and then nodded again. "Very good, sir. I'll bring you your stew right away." She eyed his armor briefly before turning swiftly and heading back towards the counter. Hainin rubbed at his eyes and stood himself, preferring to eat at the counter than in the chair.

As he sank down on one of the bar stools, he remembered the guard mentioning a house having caught fire and burning down the stable with it. He inclined his head towards the innkeep, who had turned to set his bowl of ladled stew down in front of him.

"What's the story about the burned house?"

Immediately, the Redguard's face softened. "The poor family," she murmured. "The wife and daughter both, burned to death in their beds. The husband, he made it out." She lifted her eyebrow and spat, "I bet he was the one who set the fire in the first place."

 _Well,_ Hainin thought to himself, _that's a little over the top._ "Why would he do that?" he asked aloud.

The innkeep raised her shoulders and reached for a rag to rub down the bar. "All I can say is the day right after, he found someone to replace his wife. What kind of man does that?"

"Hmm," mused Hainin. He reached for the spoon that was resting against the side of the bowl and scooped some stew up into it. After he had swallowed it, the heat searing his throat, he glanced at the Redguard once more and said, "What's the name of the Jarl that runs this place?"

The innkeep's face grew even harder. "Ever since those blasted Stormcloaks won their stupid battle, Jarl Sorli has been making her home in Highmoon Hall. That dirty Argonian housecarl of hers can't seem to get out of my inn most of the time. I wouldn't care, normally, but he always leaves a stink behind him." She wrinkled her nose and shook her head, turning away from Hainin.

The assassin abandoned the spoon and picked up the bowl in both hands, taking a long swallow of the scorching hot soup. He barely felt the burn as it went down his throat. He hated to admit it, but he was more than a little interested in learning why the man had burned down his house.

The only thing he could decide upon was that this new love was more attractive than his previous woman, but to kill a child as well?

Hainin shook his head in disgust. Poorly plotted, he decided with a click of his tongue. If he'd wanted his wife killed, all he had to do was contact the Brotherhood; Hainin would've sent Babette to take care of it. The woman would have followed the vampire child willingly onto the moors.

He finished his stew and gestured to the rooms on either side of the inn. "Which one is mine?" he asked.

"Any," answered the Redguard woman. "They're all empty."

Hainin nodded appreciatively and stood. He sauntered past each room before he selected the one closest to the door of the inn. He figured that if he couldn't take this place any longer, it would be easiest to leave in the middle of the night if he was close to his escape route.

He unclasped his black cloak trimmed with red silk; the clasp was a silver dagger, encrusted with little rubies along the hilt. Nazir had had it made for him.

Hainin smiled at the thought of the Redguard assassin as he lay the cloak across the small table in the corner of the room. Surely he would be wondering why he had not returned yet. Then again, because of the war, crossing into different provinces had become much more difficult. His Royal Nord had placed a thick layer of guards across each line in the provinces he had control of to make sure everyone who was crossing was legal.

Hainin shook his head and plopped down on the bed, not bothering to remove his armor. He was bound to be stiff in the morning anyway, since he had been riding Shadowmere all day.

He curled up into a ball underneath the green blanket and let out a slow breath. "Alright, Listener," he urged himself. "The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner you're out of this place."

He closed his eyes. Just as he was beginning to drift off into a slumber, he heard a screech coming from somewhere outside of the inn. Hainin jumped out of the bed immediately. He grabbed his sword belt and sprinted out of the inn, buckling it as he went. Without stopping, he ran until he'd reached the clearing where he had left Shadowmere.

He skidded to a stop when he saw something stuck beneath his stallion's hooves. Slowly, he approached the black horse. Shadowmere blinked glowing red eyes at him as he stepped closer, and whickered quietly at him.

Hainin sucked in a breath before crouching down to see what Shadowmere had done. He shoved against the horse's knee to make it buckle, and Shadowmere snorted before trotting a distance away. Hainin inhaled sharply at what he saw once Shadowmere was gone.

A human, its head cracked in like it had been crushed with a mace, lay oozing brain and skull fragments. Her fingernails were long and sharpened to tips, and Hainin saw the glint of fangs coming from inside the woman's gaping mouth.

He turned and retched up the stew he had eaten for dinner. Shadowmere had killed a vampire by crushing it's skull beneath his hooves.

Hainin wiped at his mouth and stood again, letting out a breath each time he moved. "Shadowmere," he croaked. The horse responded and approached him. Hainin felt his soft nose against his hand, and he leaned his forehead against the horse's velvety face. Shadowmere's warm breath reassured him, and Hainin reached around to rub his neck.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said at last. He cast a glance over his shoulder at the dead vampire on the ground. Shuddering at the sight of brain again, he turned forward once more and walked to Shadowmere's side. He stuck a foot in one stirrup and pulled himself up into the saddle.

Clicking his tongue, he directed Shadowmere to turn with the reins. The stallion picked up speed as soon as they were away from the clearing, and Hainin allowed himself to look behind them once again. Torches could be seen in the distance, and voices were shouting indistinct things to one another.

The assassin turned forward in the saddle and urged Shadowmere onward. "Come on, boy," he said. "Let's get home."

Shadowmere increased his speed to a run, and Hainin rolled his shoulders, his eyes drooping. It wasn't until the sun was rising again in the Far East reaches of Hjalmarch that he realized he'd left his cloak behind at the inn.

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 **Whoo-hoo! After... several years, this masterpiece has finally been completed! Everybody welcome Hainin Marshal back to the world of FanFiction inspired by game play.**

 **I missed this guy.**


	2. Together Again (Gee It's Good To Be)

**I don't own Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, nor any of its characters. Hainin Marshal's the only one I hold claim to.**

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He rode within sights of the Dark Brotherhood secret entrance just outside of Dawnstar. Hainin pulled against Shadowmere's reins in front of the small stable he'd built for him next to the rock outcropping that covered the entrance.

"We're home, boy," he said happily, sliding out of the saddle and into the snow.

Shadowmere whinnied in agreement, and trotted into his stable, going immediately for the hay bag. Hainin grinned and reached beneath his belly to unbuckle his saddle. He pulled it and the horse blanket from Shadowmere's back and tossed them both over the side wall of the stable. He then reached up to pull off his bridle. Shadowmere lifted his head from the feed bag long enough for Hainin to pull it over his ears before plunging right back into the hay.

Hainin laid the bridle over top of the saddle and stretched before exiting the stable and shutting the gate behind him. "I'll come check on you later," he told Shadowmere.

The horse flicked his ears at him and Hainin turned towards the secret entrance. He pulled on the wooden cover to reveal the hole that led down to the passage that would take him into the Sanctuary.

He slid into it, closing the cover as he did so. Taking a deep breath, he started walking down the passage to the other end. He saw the reflection of the stained glass on the dirt wall before he saw the door. Hainin rounded the corner and saw the large glass door waiting warmly before him.

Hainin had to grin, and he continued towards the door. He reached it, and pushed against it. It opened immediately, and he sighed, stepping through the entrance into the Sanctuary. Almost at once, Cicero appeared on the upper level. He smiled widely and exclaimed, "Listener! You're home!"

The jester flew down the stone stairs and tackled Hainin with a hug, his hat going flying as he did so. The two assassins fell to the floor from the force, Hainin laughing the whole time.

"I missed you too, Cicero," he told him, patting the jester on the back. Cicero flew to his feet, pulling Hainin up with him as he did so.

Babette stepped out of the side passage leading to the bedrooms, amber eyes shining brightly. "Welcome back, pretty boy," she said with a smirk.

"Nice to see you, blood-sucker," Hainin responded warmly.

The two recruits that he never remembered the names off appeared behind the vampire, bowing deeply with respect. Hainin dipped his head to them both and glanced around, wondering where Nazir was.

Babette lifted her eyebrow. "You just missed him," she said. "He went out to get food from Dawnstar."

"Oh." He did his best not to sound disappointed, but Babette continued to study him with a raised eyebrow. Hainin turned away and looked at Cicero. "How's Mother?"

"Dead and pristine, as always!" chirped the jester in answer. "Anxiously awaiting your return, I'm sure. When Nazir came back with news from Dawnstar about the war, we were worried you wouldn't be able to get home."

Hainin shrugged. "It took longer than I had thought it would," he agreed, "but here I am." He glanced at Babette. "I need to talk to you about something."

She nodded, and stepped backwards into the hall. Hainin went towards her, and Cicero followed right behind him. The Listener let out a breath and turned to look at him. "I need to talk to her alone, Cis," he said.

Cicero's face fell, but he nodded sadly and turned away, heading for the table. Hainin turned back to Babette and followed her into one of the bedrooms. Hainin shut the door, and Babette crossed her arms. "What's this about?" she asked, sounding curious but wary.

Hainin studied the ground, deciding on what to say. After a moment, he lifted his head again and began, "Are vampires common? Throughout Skyrim, I mean."

Babette's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"When I was in Morthal last night, Shadowmere killed one," Hainin answered slowly.

The vampire's eyes grew wide immediately. "So close to civilization?" she murmured to herself. "That's new."

"They don't get close to cities?" Hainin asked her, tilting his head.

"Not that I know of," Babette replied. Her eyes flashed. "Something's happening."

"What could it be?" Hainin queried, leaning back against the door.

Babette shook her head. "I don't know. I had heard from someone that the Dawnguard was reforming, but -"

"Who?"

Babette looked up at him through red eyes. "You've never heard of the Dawnguard?" When Hainin shrugged, she said, "The Dawnguard are an old group of vampire hunters that died out a long while back. One of the old members is trying to start it up again."

Hainin pursed his lips. "If the Dawnguard is reforming, the vampires might be up to something," he mused at last.

"I hope not," Babette muttered. "The Dawnguard will come looking for every vampire in Skyrim."

"You'll be fine," Hainin assured her. "The Dawnguard and the vampires can play their games. It has nothing to do with the Dark Brotherhood."

He heard the stained glass door open, and Cicero exclaimed happily. "Redguard!"

Hainin stiffened. Nazir was back.

Babette lifted an eyebrow at him. Again. "What's your problem?"

"I uh..." Hainin stammered, searching for a response. "I left my cloak in Morthal, with the clasp Nazir gave me. It's gone. Nazir is going to be angry."

"And that's a problem?" Babette asked, pushing him out of the way and opening the bedroom door.

"Yes, it's a problem!" Hainin replied hotly. "He got it just for me. If you'd lost something I bought for you, I would be angry."

"Ooh," Babette responded, feigning a shiver. "I'm quaking just thinking about it."

Hainin attempted to swat at her, but the vampire scooted out the door and down the hall. Hainin let out a breath to calm himself down before he followed her lead. He walked into the main room to find Babette digging around in one of the bags Nazir has brought along with him. Cicero was flouncing around cheerfully, waving a parchment around in the air.

Nazir glanced up from where he was standing, shifting through another bag, and the Redguard dipped his head in Hainin's direction. "Listener. Glad to see you've returned home safely," he said.

Hainin's heart jumped to his throat. He hated himself for having that happen every time Nazir spoke.

He returned the head nod. "I'm glad to be home."

"Listener! Listener!" Cicero exclaimed, bouncing over to him. "Look what we received from a letter carrier!"

Hainin took the parchment from the jester and glanced at it, not really reading the words because he was aware of Nazir watching him closely. "Do you feel alright, Hainin?" the Redguard queried.

"Of course," the Listener responded, voice cracking. He cleared his throat and set the letter down on the table. "Why? Am I not as handsome as I usually am?"

Babette snorted at that, and Nazir smiled slightly. "No," he said, "but you look a little jumpy."

"Jumpy? No, I'm not jumpy at all," Hainin answered quickly. He nervously started to snap his fingers and he strolled around the table in a circle. "No reason to be jumpy. Everyone is home now, the Family is back together again. Hurray."

"Hurray! Hurray!" Cicero agreed, clapping.

Hainin caught Nazir's eyebrow lift, and he stopped walking. "I'm sorry!" he cried, falling to his knees. Nazir gazed down at him in confusion as Hainin slid across the floor and wrapped his arms around Nazir's legs. "I left the cloak you gave me in Morthal. I thought there was something wrong and I ran out of the inn without it." He hid his face in the red and black fabric of Nazir's robes. "I'm so ashamed."

"Hainin, get up," Nazir sighed, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him to his feet. "I don't care about the stupid cloak."

Hainin blinked warily at him. "You don't?"

"No," the Redguard answered, annoyed. He crossed his arms. "Now, are you going to tell me what's really bothering you?"

Hainin slid into a chair at the table and glanced towards Babette for help. The vampire rolled her eyes and said, "Hainin thinks vampires are going to overrun Skyrim."

Nazir furrowed his brow in confusion. "Why would you think that?" he asked, directing his question to the Listener.

Hainin put his arms on the table and laid his head down on top of them. "Shadowmere killed one last night near Morthal," he said. "Vampires don't usually get so close to cities."

"It's true," Babette supplied, backing him up. "I do find it a bit odd. Usually, we draw our pray away from the other humans."

"We don't have to worry about the vampires, do we?" Cicero asked. Hainin lifted his head and saw that the jester had gone from elated to worried; he gnawed on a thumbnail and glanced from one assassin to the next.

"No," Hainin told him, though he wasn't positive himself. "Though we should keep our eyes open, just in case. Especially when we're out alone."

Nazir had moved so that he was leaning against the wall. He was gazing at the floor, eyes narrowed. "Vampires, wars, and werewolves. What's next?" he muttered under his breath.

At the word 'werewolves', Hainin's interest sparked. "What about werewolves?" he queried.

Nazir gestured with one hand to the letter on the table. "It's all in the letter you didn't read. The Companions had a war of their own against the Daedric Prince Hircine. You know, the one who controls werewolves. Apparently, the Companions won."

Hainin picked up the letter and read it, for real this time.

 _Brotherhood,_

 _The Companions of Jorrvaskr have recently gotten out of a battle with Hircine, the Daedric prince. He was controlling several of our own, keeping them in his plan of Oblivion. We fought with him and his army of werewolves, in order to get rid of his hold on the Companions forever. Hircine was given to his brothers to be dealt with._

 _We considered it sensible to let the other two factions in Skyrim know of this war, in case it were to cause trouble for either._

 _The Harbinger of the Companions,_

 _Cry Silverworthy_

"Hmm," Hainin mused, folding the parchment over. "Interesting. We haven't heard from the Companions since the Dragonborn defeated Alduin the World-Eater."

"I know," Nazir responded, finally lifting his eyes from the floor. "We weren't even invited to her wedding. I enjoy a good wedding every now and again."

Hainin met his brown eyes and they stared at one another for a moment before the Listener finally looked away and turned to Cicero. "Now I see what you're so happy about. You like the Dragonborn, don't you?"

"Oh yes, yes!" Cicero replied cheerfully. "The Dragonborn is a very good friend of Cicero's!"

Hainin sighed. He'd only met the Dragonborn in person once, when they'd been extremely close to being beheaded. It was odd, considering how many times he'd been to Whiterun Hold. She always seemed to evade him.

The other faction she'd spoke of… she must have meant the Thieves Guild. There was no other faction in Skyrim worth sending a letter too. At least, not one that he knew of.

Hainin stood up from the table, passing the letter back to Cicero as he did so, and lifted an eyebrow at Nazir. The Redguard nodded in understanding and followed the Listener down the hallway into his bedroom. Once he was inside, Hainin shut the door and leaned against it.

"I didn't want to talk about this in front of Babette," he explained.

"You're worried about the vampires," Nazir stated.

Hainin shrugged. "You're not?"

"Not entirely," Nazir replied. "The Dawnguard are starting back up; if there is a real threat, they'll be the ones to take care of it, not us."

Hainin didn't find any comfort in the fact that a group of old vampire hunters was reforming. "But -" he started.

Nazir shook his head and crossed the room to stand before him. "Everything's going to be fine," he said, resting his hands on the Listener's shoulders. "Trust me, all right?"

Hainin's knees felt wobbly. "When do I not?" he queried weakly.

Nazir's eyes went soft. He looked like he wanted to say something more, but instead nodded and stepped away from Hainin again.

The Listener's heart fell, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he grinned sideways. "Do you want to do something later?" he asked.

Nazir glanced at him in confusion. "What is there to do?"

Hainin frowned. "I don't know!" he exclaimed. "There was just a bit of awkwardness there and I wanted to dispel it, all right? Sithis, give me a break!"

Without waiting for a response, Hainin pulled open the bedroom door and stormed out of the room. _Men are no better than women_ , he thought to himself in annoyance.

The next morning, Hainin climbed the stone steps to the upper level of the Sanctuary and knelt down before the Night Mother.

"Mother," he said aloud.

Immediately, she was in his head, " _You've returned from the last contract I sent you on. Well done._ "

Hainin smiled a slightly at her praise. "Thank you, Mother," he murmured. "Do you have something new for me?"

" _Not at the present, no,_ " the Night Mother answered, " _but we do need to talk._ "

Hainin lifted his head and gazed up at her. Her empty eye sockets seemed to gaze back. "About what?" he questioned.

" _Your relationship… you and the Redguard…_ "

Hainin flinched. "There's nothing to talk about, Mother," he told her stiffly. "Nazir and I are only friends."

" _You don't mean that_ ," she mused with a chuckle. " _I hear everything even though my ears are closed. I see everything despite not having any eyes. You, Hainin Marshal, my Listener, are unlike most men in Tamriel_."

"I'm not!" Hainin insisted. He could almost see her raising an eyebrow, even though she didn't have one. Sighing, he bowed his head and muttered, "Even if I was, it has nothing to do with Nazir."

" _Listener, for once, listen to me about something other than a contract_ ," the Night Mother commanded. Hainin remained silent, and she went on, " _Whatever affections you feel for whomever should not affect your true calling. You understand that, yes_?"

"Of course," Hainin responded.

" _As long as you remember that, you have my blessing_ ," the Night Mother told him.

"Mother -" Hainin began, but she cut him off.

" _Silence. I do not want your excuses, Listener,_ " she said sternly. " _You will be happy._ "

Hainin let out a breath and forced himself to nod. "Very well." He stood and bowed to her, and then went down the stairs again before he fell into a chair at the table with a groan.

He heard humming and Cicero flounced out of the hallway, grinning widely.

"Good morning, Listener!" he said happily. "Did you sleep well?" Hainin didn't respond. He lowered his head to the table, and Cicero hummed to himself. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Sure," Hainin replied. "Don't worry about me."

Cicero didn't like the sound of that. He sat down next to Hainin at the table and poked the Imperial in the arm. "Tell me," the jester implored.

Hainin muttered under his breath in annoyance before he lifted his head again and stared at Cicero. "Listen to me," he started. "There is nothing wrong, all right? I'm fine."

Cicero didn't leave, and Hainin waved his hand. "Go. Find something to do. I want to be alone with my thoughts for a bit."

The Imperial assassin continued to give him a look. Hainin finally grew angry enough to stand up and stalk from the main room himself, heading for his bedroom. He passed Babette in the hall, and she pushed him to a halt by putting her small hand against his chest.

Hainin didn't look down at her, but he growled, "What?"

"Nazir wants to talk to you," Babette responded. "Now."

"What in Oblivion for?" Hainin mumbled.

Babette shook her head. "I don't know. He said it was important, though."

Hainin let out a breath and nodded. The vampire allowed him to continue on his way. He paused outside of Nazir's bedroom and paused before he lifted his fist to knock. The door opened before his knuckles even touched the wood.

"Come in," Nazir said, moving aside. Hainin stepped into his room, and Nazir shut the door. When Hainin turned to look at him, the Redguard was gazing at the floor, like he did when he was concentrating. "I think we may need to look further into this vampire thing," he said after a moment.

Hainin furrowed his brow. "What made you decide that?" he asked, confused.

Nazir shrugged. "I just thought it might be a good idea," he answered, "in case it does cause a problem for us. We can't lose business because people are too afraid they'll summon up the wrong killers."

Hainin sat down on the edge of Nazir's bed. "All right," he mused, "so what do you think we should do?"

"We should start with the Dawnguard," Nazir replied. "Let's figure out where their setup is located, and head there. Maybe they can give us some answers."

Hainin studied the ground. "Fort Dawnguard," he said.

"Hmm?"

Hainin lifted his head again and met Nazir's eyes. "I heard someone talking about it in Windhelm. Apparently, that's where the Dawnguard are staking out and running their operations. I didn't think about it again until Babette mentioned the Dawnguard to me yesterday afternoon."

Nazir crossed his arms and leaned back against the door. "Do you think you'd be able to find out where that's at?" he asked.

"Probably. Maybe someone in Dawnstar will know." He stood. "I can go out and ask around right now."

Nazir didn't move from his spot in front of the door. When Hainin held out his arms, the Redguard sighed and bowed his head. "Hainin…"

"No," the Listener answered. "We're not going to talk about this right now." He attempted to get by Nazir, but he wasn't budging. Hainin huffed and stepped away from the door. "What do you want from me?"

"We need to talk about what's going on between the two of us," Nazir told him.

"Which is nothing," Hainin insisted.

"We both know that's not true."

"Do we?"

The two assassins stared at each other for an extremely long moment, one that felt like an eternity. At last, Nazir broke the eye contact and mumbled, "I don't know what's going on exactly, but you're not… you don't feel like other people do, Hay. It's confusing."

"By Sithis, Red," Hainin exclaimed, covering his face with his hands. He turned his back on the door and walked away. "You think you're the only one that's confused? My whole life, I've thought that women were the answer. Whenever I had a craving, I would go to a woman. But now I'm learning that a man that I'm merely talking to is making me more nervous than all of the women I've slept with combined."

Nazir let out a heavy sigh from behind him. "Hainin, I don't know what this is going to turn into," he started, "but we can't… let it get in the way of our work."

Hainin slid his hands down his face and clenched his fists at his sides. "I wasn't going too, anyway," he muttered at last, turning to look at the Redguard again. "Now, get out of my way so I can go do _our_ work."

"I'll go with you," Nazir said as he moved away from the door and Hainin pulled it open. "If you want me to, that is."

Hainin tightened his hand around the door handle, his knuckles turning white. He turned his head away from Nazir and said, "No, I'll go alone."

He exited the room and headed down the hall back into the main room. Babette glanced up from a book she was reading as he walked in. "A lover's dispute?" she queried teasingly.

Hainin chose to ignore her, and hurried up the stairs so he wouldn't run into Cicero before he left. Unfortunately, the jester was tending to the Night Mother, and he turned in Hainin's direction just as the Listener reached the top of the stairs.

"Where are you going?" the Imperial queried.

"To Dawnstar. I'm trying to figure something out," Hainin answered. He started down the short hallway leading to the front door, and Cicero popped up in front of him before he could open it. Hainin rolled his eyes. "No."

"Listener, please!" Cicero begged. "We haven't done anything together in so long."

Hainin hung his head and sighed. "Fine," he mumbled at last. "You can come. But you have to stay quiet while I'm asking questions, all right?"

As Cicero clapped happily, Hainin began to pull open the door. Cicero blocked his path again. "What now?" Hainin demanded, beginning to get annoyed.

"We should go out the secret entrance," the jester said quietly. "It would be quicker."

Hainin frowned and turned around. "I knew that," he said under his breath.

"Sure you did," Babette chuckled as they passed the table.

"Shut up," Hainin commanded.

* * *

 **I love when everyone in the Dark Brotherhood is back together again.**


	3. We're Off to See the Dawnguard

**I don't own Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, just Hainin Marshal.**

* * *

"Dawnguard? You mean the vampire hunters?"

Hainin and Cicero had walked down the secret path and down into Dawnstar. They were now standing in the Windpeak Inn, talking to the innkeeper, Thoring.

The Nord shrugged and scrubbed out the inside of a tankard with a rag. "Dunno, friend. Can't say I can help you."

"You must have heard something," Hainin insisted as he put down the tankard and picked up another. "Please."

Thoring shook his head. "Nope, don't believe I have. Maybe you should talk to the local guard. They may know something."

Hainin sighed and turned away from the bar. He led Cicero out of the inn and was stopped immediately by a tall Orc. Hainin had to physically look up to see his face.

"Hello," the Listener said. "Can I help you?"

"Heard you was asking about the Dawnguard," the Orc replied. "The name's Durak. I'm part of the faction you've been asking about."

"Oh good," Hainin said, pleased. "Then maybe you can help us. Earlier this week, my horse was attacked by a vampire. We took care of it, but we were wondering if there was anything else about vampires we should be worried about."

Durak didn't respond, and Hainin cleared his throat. "Uh, maybe I should explain this a tad more simply," he said. He held up his hands and made claws with his fingers. "Vampires aren't good. Attacked my horse. Are they going to be a pro - urk!"

He was cut off as the Orc grabbed him around the throat with one hand and lifted him several feet off of the ground.

"Listen here, fancy hair," the Orc growled, "I'll be doing the talking."

Hainin gurgled out a response, and Durak shook him. "The Dawnguard are starting to be reformed to deal with a group of vampires that have decided they can just show up in Skyrim without asking for permission. You wanna help, you go to Fort Dawnguard and talk to Isran."

The Orc dropped Hainin into a snowdrift and started to stalk away. Hainin scurried out of the snow and called, "Wait! Where's Fort Dawnguard at?"

"Dayspring Canyon," Durak replied over his shoulder. "The entrance is hidden, but I don't have any doubt you won't be able to find it."

With that, the Orc disappeared up the road, and Hainin wiped snow off of his armor.

Cicero reached up to brush some out of his hair.

"Did you get an answer you wanted, Listener?" the jester asked.

"Yes," Hainin said, rubbing at his neck with his hand, "just didn't think it would be so dangerous."

They made it back to the Sanctuary without any other chokeholds, and Hainin told Nazir what the Orc had said.

"Dayspring Canyon," Nazir said, thinking. "That's in Riften, I think. Or near it, anyway. At the base of a mountain."

"Sithis's blood," Hainin cursed, falling into a chair. "It'll take at least a week to get down there in this weather."

Nazir shrugged and headed for the bedrooms. "Then I suppose we should get moving as soon as the sun comes up tomorrow," he said.

Hainin looked up, confused. "Wait," he said, standing and following Nazir down the hall. "Did you say we?"

"Yes," the Redguard answered. "Why?"

"I thought I said I wanted to go alone," Hainin responded.

"Dawnstar," Nazir told him. "You said you were going to Dawnstar alone." He looked at Hainin from over his shoulder as he started to put things into a backpack. "Besides, I wouldn't let you travel to Riften alone, anyway. Who knows what trouble you would get into with the Thieves Guild?"

"Who do you think you are?" Hainin demanded.

"Your friend and fellow assassin. And your Speaker," Nazir answered calmly. "Perhaps something more, if you would just talk to me about it."

Hainin let out an annoyed grunt. There was no way Nazir would let him go alone, even if Hainin ordered it. There was no possible way out.

"Fine," he muttered, turning to go pack his own things. "You can come."

"I wasn't asking for your permission," Nazir told him.

"I know," Hainin answered, "but I decided I'd best give it, considering I'm your Listener." Without another word, Hainin shut Nazir's door and went to his room. Before he shut his door, he glanced down the hall towards Nazir's room and sighed. Shaking his head, he closed his door and started to pack.

Thinking too hard about Nazir and their problems would only distract him from more important things, anyhow. Best not to linger on it. Still, his dreams were filled with nothing but the Redguard, and it was a fairly restless night.

Hainin dragged himself out of bed the following morning exhausted and grumpy, dreading the walk all the way to either Solitude or Windhelm just to catch a carriage, and then the ride in that carriage to Riften. He knew that it would be quicker to just ride Shadowmere all the way to Riften, but Shadowmere didn't like Nazir for some odd reason.

Hainin quickly dressed, not even bothering to do his hair like he normally did, and walked to the main room, pack slung over his shoulder.

Babette was sitting at the table, and she looked at him as he appeared.

"So you're actually going to go?" she asked him.

Hainin nodded. "We need to find out what's going on."

Babette glanced down at the table. "I suppose you do," she agreed after a moment. "It's probably best if I don't go, hmm?"

Hainin pursed his lips. "Probably," he said. "We're going to go see the Dawnguard; I don't think they would appreciate us bringing a vampire to their fort."

Babette looked up, meeting her orange eyes with his. "That's the third time you've used a plural. Are you taking Cicero?"

"No…" Hainin replied slowly.

When Babette continued to gaze at him, he turned his gaze away and waved his hand. "Nazir insisted on coming with me."

"What?" Babette sounded shocked. "But Nazir never leaves Dawnstar! Are you sure he was being serious?"

As she finished speaking, Nazir could be heard whistling down the hallway and he appeared in the main room, a backpack slung over his shoulder and a scimitar hanging from his sword belt. He smiled at Hainin and Babette both.

"What?" he queried, seeing their expression. "Can't a person whistle when they're happy?"

Hainin snapped his mouth closed and frowned in annoyance. "You never whistle. Why're you so chipper, anyway?"

"You hate to travel," Babette added for gumption.

Nazir shrugged his shoulders. "I've been sitting in this damn Sanctuary for almost a year, getting the Brotherhood back on its feet. It's about time I'm able to get out of Dawnstar and go do something."

Hainin and Babette exchanged a look. There was something wrong with the Redguard.

Hainin turned to back to Nazir. "I thought we decided that you would take care of the Brotherhood while I made us money?"

"Now we have enough money," Nazir responded. He lifted an eyebrow. "Are you still trying to convince me not to come? Hainin, I'm disappointed in you. I thought we discussed this last night."

Hainin lifted his hands. "I'm not trying to do anything," he informed. "I'm just saying that you never go anywhere, so it's strange that you're excited to go places. That's all."

Nazir gazed at him a moment longer and then turned away.

"Well, are we going to go now or not?" he asked, starting for the stained-glass door.

Hainin gave Babette a final 'help me' look and then called, "Cicero! We're leaving!"

Immediately, the jester bounded out of the hallway and tackled Hainin in a hug. "We'll miss you, Listener!" he exclaimed.

Hainin patted him comfortingly on the back. "We'll be home soon, pal," he said. "I'd give us about a month before you start to get worried."

"A month?" Babette asked, curious. "That's a little extreme, wouldn't you say?"

Hainin glanced at her. "No," he said, "not if we need to deal with the vampires ourselves."

Nazir pushed the door open and Hainin pried himself out of Cicero's grasp.

"We'll be back, eventually," he reiterated. "If it's going to take longer than we planned, we'll get a letter to you."

He ducked into the secret passage ahead of Nazir while the Redguard waved and said, "Take care of the Sanctuary. We'll know if you bring anyone here."

Hainin heard Babette snort. "Who would we bring to the Sanctuary, even if we wanted to?"

"Goodbye," Nazir said, dryly, and then he closed the door. Hainin waited for him catch up before he turned and started to walk.

There was a silence between the two assassins as they walked down the secret passage to the covered hole outside of Dawnstar. Hainin wanted to say something, but he didn't have anything to say. He waited expectantly for Nazir to break the quiet. The Redguard, however, didn't even look in his direction once.

When they reached the entrance, Hainin stood back and allowed Nazir to move the plank of wood blocking the way. When the obstruction was cleared, Hainin ducked outside and blinked in the morning light. A fresh blanket of snow had been lain down over night, and everything glowed brightly in the sun.

Shadowmere whickered to Hainin from his stable and kicked against the gate. Hainin went over to his horse and scratched his nose.

"Not this time, buddy," he murmured soothingly. "We're going someplace far away, and Nazir is coming with me."

Shadowmere flicked his ears in understanding and snorted. Hainin smiled at the horse's contempt.

"I know," he agreed, hugging the Shadowmere around the neck. "I didn't want him to come, either."

"Hainin!" Nazir said from behind him. "We need to go if we want to reach Windhelm by tomorrow morning."

The Listener rolled his eyes at Shadowmere and gave the stallion one final pat before he turned and walked to Nazir.

The Redguard lifted an eyebrow at him. "Sharing secrets with a horse?" he asked.

Hainin shoved him playfully and started along on the path. Nazir chuckled and followed.

"So we're going to get a carriage in Windhelm?" Hainin asked him as Nazir caught up and matched his pace.

"We can't get one in Winterhold," Nazir answered, "and Solitude is way out of the way."

"Whiterun," Hainin offered.

The Redguard shook his head. "Windhelm is closer, and we would have to go through the mountains."

"I suppose," Hainin agreed "though I'd thought we could visit the Companions and find out exactly what happened with their 'war'."

Nazir snorted. "You just want to see the muscular male Companions."

"That's not true!" Hainin exclaimed, hurt. "I don't need attractive men to look at." He glanced sideways at the Redguard walking beside him and bumped into his shoulder. "I'm already with one."

Nazir let out a slow breath. "Hainin," he started, "I thought we weren't going to do this."

"You need to make up your mind about what you want!" Hainin retorted. He could feel his cheeks getting hot, and he regretted trying to be playful. "If you would just tell me, we wouldn't have to prance around the subject!"

"I'm sorry," Nazir said after a moment of quiet. Hainin continued to glare at the ground even as the Redguard reached over to touch his shoulder. "I just don't know if that's who I am, Hay. Can't you understand that?"

Hainin sighed and shrugged Nazir's hand away. "I get it. I just wish I wasn't alone in this," he said.

Nazir didn't answer. Hainin lifted his eyes and saw the Redguard was gazing off up the snow-covered path, deep in thought. The Listener gnawed on his lip turned his eyes back to the ground.

 _I really want to be with you_ , he thought to himself quietly. _I don't know whether that's a bad thing, or a good one. I won't know until you tell me._

* * *

 **I like to imagine Hainin's constantly wondering what the fuck Nazir's thinking about. I know I would be.**


	4. An Interlude of Emotions

**I do not own Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, only Hainin Marshal.**

* * *

It seemed like they'd barely gone anywhere when suddenly, the sun began to go down. Hainin stopped walking and glanced up at the sky. It was turning dark; the blue was becoming a deep milky purple. They weren't going to make it to Windhelm before the sun disappeared.

He said as much to Nazir. The Redguard had stopped further along the snow covered path they were walking and lifted his own gaze to the sky.

Sighing, he looked at Hainin. "We have to keep going."

"Are you insane?" Hainin demanded. "What're people going to think when two people, who aren't Nords, walk into Windhelm in the middle of the night?"

"It won't matter what they think," Nazir responded, starting to walk again, "because we won't even be going into the city."

Hainin started to retort, but realized the Redguard was right. The carriage was located at the city stables, outside of the walls. He frowned in annoyance and snorted, wanting to blame someone else for his idiocy.

He picked up his pace until he was walking at Nazir's side, arms crossed.

"I knew that," he muttered under his breath.

The Redguard merely rolled his eyes in exasperation and continued walking.

"What exactly are we planning on doing when we reach Fort Dawnguard?" he queried after a moment.

Hainin lifted an eyebrow in question, and Nazir shrugged. "I'm just wondering. You don't plan on joining them, do you?"

"Not at all!" Hainin exclaimed, astonished. "What put that thought into your head? We're simply going to go to Fort Dawnguard, ask some questions about what they plan on doing, and then leave."

"And if someone tries to drag us into joining?" Nazir asked.

Hainin fingered his dagger's hilt. "Then we kill them all, obviously."

"Even though we need them to take care of the vampires?" Nazir questioned, giving him a sideways glance.

Hainin thought this over briefly, sticking out his lower lip in a pout.

"Huh," he said after a second. "Maybe killing them isn't the best idea." Nazir held out his hands, and Hainin glared at him. "Well? What's your genius plan, then?"

Nazir pursed his lips, eyes narrowing in thought. "We could simply do what they ask of us in order to get answers," he suggested at last.

"The Dark Brotherhood doesn't take orders," Hainin grumbled.

"Don't we?" The Listener shook his head, and the Redguard hummed. "That's odd, because I thought we did take orders, from people who want someone else dead."

It was taking a lot of Hainin's willpower not to punch the assassin right in the jaw. He tightened his fist and let out a breath through his nose in order to calm down.

"Any other bright suggestions?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Only that one," Nazir replied, "and, since you don't have any others, if appears that it's our only option."

Hainin really didn't want to listen to him. He wanted a better idea to pop into his head, just so he could be right about something. When one didn't come, he cursed the Eight under his breath and glared at the ground.

"So, we're going with my plan?" Nazir questioned.

"Yes," Hainin growled, though it pained him even as he said it. "You win, all right?"

"Wonderful," the Redguard replied, his voice completely void of all emotion. "I'm overjoyed that you finally let me choose for once."

"I let you come," Hainin warned beneath his breath. "Don't make me send you back."

"I thought the Dark Brotherhood didn't take orders," Nazir mused.

That was too much.

"All right, that's it!" Hainin exploded. He turned on the Redguard and shoved him into the trunk of one of the trees lining the road. Grabbing the front of his robes, he held Nazir against the tree while he shouted, "I've about had it with you! I'm trying to be nice, but you're making it exceedingly difficult."

"That was you being nice?" Nazir queried, lifting an eyebrow. "Well. I don't want to know what angry looks like."

Hainin yelled and pulled the Redguard away from the tree, tackling him down to the ground. The two wrestled off of the path and into the woods, punches flying. When they finally stopped rolling, Nazir had Hainin on the ground and was straddling him, holding his arms down so that the Imperial couldn't use them.

"Are you done?" he shouted, anger flaring in his brown eyes.

Hainin merely spat some blood up into his face. One of Nazir's punches had knocked out a molar, and so he spat that out as well.

Nazir grunted and used a hand to wipe at his face. This released one of Hainin's arms, and the Imperial quickly threw a punch at the Redguard. It hit him square in the jaw, and Nazir fell off of him.

Hainin crawled away as quickly as possible and staggered to his feet, pulling his dagger from its scabbard. He held it in Nazir's direction as the Redguard picked himself up off the ground.

"Don't you dare come near me," Hainin hissed thickly. "I will send you to Sithis, I swear to it."

"Hainin," Nazir said slowly, holding up his hands. "What are we doing? We're friends."

"Are we?" The Listener let out a noise of astonishment. "Doesn't really seem like that's the case, does it?"

"Well, you do have your dagger pointed at my chest," Nazir agreed.

"Yes," Hainin replied, "I do. And I also have very precise aim."

The two assassins stared at one another for a long moment. After what seemed like eternity, Nazir let out a laugh.

"You know," he began, "the tension right now could be cut with a knife."

Hainin cocked an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to mean something?" he queried, tightening his grip. "I'm the one with the dagger here, remember? I could easily 'cut the tension', if that's what you want."

"Hainin, please," Nazir sighed. "We don't need to be doing this. I don't want to fight. We still have a long way to go, and we have to come back."

The Listener continued to glare at him, but he slowly lowered the dagger.

"I don't want to fight, either," he said quietly, "but you're not exactly giving me much of a choice."

"This has nothing to do with me," Nazir said.

"It has everything to do with you!" Hainin shouted. He could feel tears burning in his eyes, but they didn't escape. He didn't cry anymore. There was only burning.

He swallowed thickly and slid his dagger into its scabbard on his belt.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," he muttered, closing his eyes. "I don't know if I want you, or if I hate you. Right now, it's both."

Nazir let out a sigh, and Hainin looked up at him. The Redguard was gazing down at the ground.

"Hainin, we've talked about this," he said when he felt the Listener's eyes on him.

"No, we haven't," Hainin replied. The anger was returning. He walked towards the Redguard, but instead of grabbing him again, he merely shouldered past him to get back onto the road. "You may think we've talked about it, but we haven't. Not even a little bit. When you're ready, come find me."

Before he could go, however, Nazir grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. Hainin didn't try to wrest free. Instead, he turned around and found Nazir looking at him carefully.

"What do you want from me?" the Redguard asked, his voice hoarse.

Hainin gazed at him. "You know what," he said after a moment.

Nazir shook his head desperately, but Hainin ignored this and took his face in his hands. Without waiting for further disagreement, he leaned in and kissed the Redguard right on the mouth. Nazir didn't flinch away, nor did he hit him. In fact, the Redguard fell towards him, beseechingly, like he wanted more. Hainin didn't know what to give him.

He pushed Nazir back up against the same tree he'd had him against before and pulled back. Both assassins were breathing heavily, and Nazir gave him a look that made Hainin want to kiss him all over again.

"Remember when I told you I'd follow you until I was dust in the breeze?" the Redguard asked him. Hainin nodded, and Nazir reached up and grabbed his chin. "I'm even more certain of that now than I was then," he murmured quietly.

The Listener smiled sadly in response and allowed the Redguard to kiss him again. Through the kiss, he said, "You're not allowed to turn into dust until I do."

"Wasn't planning on it," Nazir retorted.

He grabbed the front of Hainin's armor and pulled him to the ground. The Imperial didn't know what was going to happen involving the vampires, but he sure was glad the relationship matter had been resolved.

 _Now, onto bigger issues._

Nazir unbuckled one of the belts on his armor, and Hainin thought, _Perhaps in the morning._

* * *

 **It can be concluded that I am not better at writing sex scenes than I was the first time I started this Fiction.**

 **I probably never will be.**


	5. Ziris and the Guild

**I do not own Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, only Hainin Marshal.**

* * *

The carriage pulled to a stop outside the Riften stables. Hainin exchanged a look with Nazir before he climbed down out of the carriage and to the ground. Immediately, the scent of the lake hit him like a punch, and he staggered backwards right into Nazir, who had just climbed off of the carriage himself.

"Whoo," the Redguard said, catching him. "That's a smell."

"It smells like dead fish and shit," Hainin stated bluntly, covering his nose with his hand. "Gods, that's disgusting. How do people live in this place?"

He straightened up and glanced towards the city gates. Two guards, both dressed in Imperial red, were standing guard. One was eyeing the assassins closely, and the other was fast asleep.

Hainin turned to Nazir. The Redguard lifted an eyebrow. "Are you ready?" he queried.

Hainin frowned. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "I'm not really sure if the Thieves Guild is going to be happy to hear from us. Their Guild Master and I don't have the best history."

Hainin had met Ziris Coldwater once before, though not under the best circumstances. The two of them had been at Helgen together when the dragon had attacked. The Dragonborn had been there as well. In fact, the Dragonborn had offered to die before them, because they wouldn't stop arguing over who would get their head cut off first.

They hadn't known who the others had been at the time. How the annoying dark-haired Nord he'd been fighting with had risen through the ranks of the Thieves Guild was beyond him.

Nazir shrugged. "We'll just stay in the Bee and Barb, and, if _they_ choose, speak with the Guild. We don't have to go down into the Ratway and look for them."

The Redguard strolled away towards the gate. Hainin gazed after him a moment, a smirk drifting onto his face before he followed.

"What do you mean, pay?" Nazir was demanding when he approached.

The guard who wasn't asleep lifted his shoulders. "I'm only doing as I'm told, Redguard. You don't pay, you're not allowed into the city."

Nazir looked at Hainin, annoyance written on his face. Hainin held up a hand in his direction and grinned at the guard.

"You don't honestly think we believe that, do you?" he asked sweetly.

The guard's expression didn't change. "Listen, you don't wanna pay, you don't have to. But I'm not letting you in unless you do."

Hainin let out a breath and turned away. "This is obviously a shakedown," he said, looking at Nazir. "Maybe we should just go."

"Hey, hey!" the guard said, glancing towards his partner. "Keep your voice down. I'll let you in, all right? Just let me unlock the gate."

He went to do just that, and Hainin grinned at Nazir. The Redguard rolled his eyes as the guard turned back to them. "All right, go on in," he said.

Hainin strolled through the gates ahead of Nazir, and then halted right away as the sewer scent washed over him. He gagged and crouched over, covering his mouth and nose.

"By Sithis," he groaned.

Nazir came up beside him and wrinkled his own nose. "This is disgusting," he said, frowning.

"You get used to it," a guard said as he strolled past.

Hainin forced himself to straighten up and glance around. The city in general wasn't very clean. He could see a few beggars strolling around, and the Bee and Barb's front entrance was coated in a layer of grime.

He turned to Nazir and was about to say something when someone nearby said, "Hey. You."

The two assassins turned to see a male dressed in steel armor leaning against a pole, arms crossed. He narrowed his dark eyes at them. "You in Riften lookin' for trouble?" he asked darkly.

Hainin decided he didn't want to fight this guy. He shook his head. "Nope," he said, "just passing through."

"Well, I got news for you," the guy said, even though Hainin had started to walk away. "There ain't nothing to see here. Keep your noses out of the Black Briars business, though, and you should be fine."

Hainin rolled his eyes instantly. Of course this thug had something to do with the Black Briars. "Got it," he said, forcing himself to sound sincere. "No funny business."

He tried once more to walk off, even going so far as to grab Nazir's arm and pull him along, but the guy went on talking. "Me? I'm Maul. I watch the streets for them. You ever need dirt on anyone, you come talk to me, y'hear?"

"We're not exactly clean ourselves," Nazir told him, pulling his arm from Hainin's grasp.

Maul tilted his head. "So we're speaking the same language. Good. What do you need to know?"

Hainin gestured wildly with his head, but Nazir didn't look at him. "What can you tell us about the Thieves Guild?" he queried.

"You kidding?" Maul let out a laugh. "My brother works for 'em. I used to run with them myself, until I got a job up on the surface with Maven. Now I mainly run interference with my brother so as to keep the Guild updated with what's happening on the street. I may have to tell him about you two. They like to know when a new person comes to Riften."

"No doubt they'll aim to rob us, too," Hainin said sarcastically. He reached over and tugged on Nazir's arm. "Let's go."

Nazir rolled his eyes but followed him willingly.

"See you around," Maul called after them as Hainin pulled Nazir across a bridge and into the marketplace.

"What in Sithis's name was that?" he demanded once they were out of earshot of the bodyguard.

"What do you mean? We got free information. I was going to ask what he knew about the Brotherhood when you so rudely pulled me away," Nazir responded. He gestured towards where Maul was walking away. "See? Now he's gone."

"Who cares?" Hainin asked. "We're here to talk to the Guild if they want to talk to us, and that's it. After that, we're going to go find Fort Dawnguard, and deal with this vampire problem. Sound like a plan?"

The Redguard let out a sigh. "Fine," he agreed at last. "Let's go see about getting a room in the Bee and Barb."

"And what business would two gentlemen such as yourselves have here in Riften?" someone asked from behind them.

Hainin rotated around to see a Nord leaning against the wall of the inn. He studied them through curious green eyes, his head tilted. Red hair shone in the sunlight.

 _Well, I'm definitely not interested in women_ , Hainin decided as he gazed at the Nord.

"I'm only curious," the redhead said. His voice was the typical one of a male Nord, though it's tone was spread with honey, smooth and sweet. He was definitely a thief, and most likely a good one.

"We have business with the Guild Master, if she'd like to speak with us," Hainin responded, trying to sound equally as smooth, though probably failing.

"Do you?" the Nord queried, lifting a red eyebrow. "Huh. Well, I suppose we'll have to see about that." He turned and started to walk to the other side of the marketplace, waving his hand for the two assassins to follow. "Come with me."

Hainin exchanged a glance with Nazir. The Redguard returned the look with an eyebrow lift of his own. Hainin shrugged his shoulders and followed after the Nord, aware that Nazir joined him after a moment's hesitation.

The thief led them down a staircase into the canal of Riften outside of the orphanage where Hainin had killed Grelod the Kind. When they reached the wooden dock at the bottom, the Nord stopped and turned to look at them.

"Now, before I take you any further, would you mind telling me just who you are?" he questioned.

Hainin and Nazir looked at one another once more. The Listener didn't know whether or not to tell the thief who they were, and Nazir didn't seem to be certain, either.

Finally, after a long moment, Hainin decided to just tell him. He turned back to the Nord and said, "My name is Hainin Marshal."

As soon as he said his name, the Nord's eyebrows shot upwards. "Of course," he said in understanding. "I should've guessed from the armor. You're the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood."

Hainin smirked. "My achievements precede me," he said cheekily. Nazir elbowed him in the side. Hainin grunted and managed, "This is my associate Nazir."

The Redguard grinned at the Nord. "It's very nice to meet you," he said, "though it would be much nicer if I knew your name."

The thief allowed a grin of his own. "Brynjolf. Second-in-command of the Thieves Guild, though I suppose you've guessed that much by now."

"Ah, Ziris has mentioned you in the letters she occasionally sends out," Hainin told him, "though I had no idea that you were so..." He paused, not sure where he was going with this.

Nazir saved him, thankfully. "You wouldn't mind taking us to the Guild Master, would you? We have something to ask her."

Brynjolf pursed his lips. "The Guild Master is out on business at the moment," he told them. "I should have told you this before bringing you down here, but I wanted to speak with you privately. Of course, if you want to relay your message unto me, I will be sure to tell her when she returns."

"Brynjolf, what have I told you?" Hainin turned around to see a Nord woman of slight form coming down the stairs. The black armor she wore showed off her minimal curves very well, and dark hair fell across her shoulders around a small face. It was definitely the woman from Helgen.

She pushed between Hainin and Nazir and glared into Brynjolf's face. "No lying to other factions. We don't want to start a war!" she scolded.

"I didn't lie," Brynjolf responded. "I just didn't tell them the whole truth. You technically were out on business, just not the business they were probably thinking."

Ziris _humph_ ed and leaned up on her toes to give him a kiss. Hainin let out a disappointed sigh as she did so, and Nazir elbowed him again.

As he rubbed his side, Ziris turned to look at them.

"What does the Dark Brotherhood want with the Thieves Guild, Listener?" she queried, directing her question to Hainin.

The Imperial straightened. It was time for business.

"We stopped in Riften to warn you about the problem that seems to be rising in Skyrim," he told her.

Ziris's face darkened with worry. "What problem?" she asked, her voice low.

"Vampires have risen up somewhere and are starting to attack more openly," he replied. "Nazir and I are going to Fort Dawnguard to figure out just what is going on, and whether or not we can stop it."

Ziris glanced up at Brynjolf. The Nord looked concerned. "Are they attacking everywhere, or…?" he asked carefully.

"I've only encountered one so far," Hainin responded. "I was staying in Morthal. The vampire attacked my horse. I'm worried because we were so close to civilization, and I've never heard of a vampire choosing prey near a town or city. The ones I know of live out alone in shacks in the woods."

"Did you receive the letter from the Companions?" Ziris questioned, turning his gaze back to him.

"The one about the war with the werewolves?" Ziris nodded and Hainin said, "Yes, we did. Only two days ago, actually."

"The vampires couldn't have anything to do with that, could they?" Brynjolf queried. "I wouldn't think so."

"I don't, either," Nazir agreed. "I believe that the vampires are just getting desperate. We'll find out soon enough."

"We just thought it would be good of us to give the Guild a fair warning, since you are the closest to Fort Dawnguard," Hainin told the two thieves. "In case vampires decide to attack Riften."

"Thank you," Ziris said after a moment. Brynjolf pulled her closer to him, and she bowed her head. "I don't exactly have a good history with vampires."

Hainin furrowed his brow. "What happened?" he asked. Ziris didn't look up and he quickly said, "You don't need to share it with us, if you don't want to."

"No, it's all right," she put in quietly. "It happened a long time ago." She turned and disappeared into a hollowed out section of the wall, saying, "Come with us down to the Ragged Flagon and I'll tell you. You must be hungry."

Brynjolf followed her lead, and, after a moment, the two assassins did the same.

Ziris and Brynjolf led them through the Ratway and across a plank board bridge into a dimly lit room with a table in the center. From there, they walked down a flight of stone steps and opened a door at the bottom. "Don't do anything stupid while you're down here," Ziris advised before she allowed them to walk into the cavernous room on the other side. "Vekel doesn't like idiots in his bar."

Nazir and Hainin were led out into the domed room. There was a large circular pool of water in the center, and a stone walkway lined the wall around it. Across the room was a large landing of stone with a dock over the water attached to it.

Ziris took the lead and walked around on the stone walkway to a small wooden bridge that connected the walk to what Hainin assumed was the Ragged Flagon. A large man barred the entrance to the bar, but when he saw Ziris and Brynjolf, he sidestepped and allowed them to pass, giving Nazir and Hainin a cold look as they did so.

Once they were seated at a table on the wooden dock, Hainin allowed himself to relax. He immediately tensed up again, however, when a bald Breton approached them from the bar, grinning sideways. He sauntered up to their table and gave the two assassins a look.

"Where'd you pick these ones up?" he queried. "They look a little frazzled. What's wrong, boys, afraid of skeevers?"

"Shove it, Del," Ziris muttered to him. "They're just visiting. Go find something to do."

The Breton continued to grin and he shuffled away again. Ziris rolled her eyes in exasperation once he was gone. "Sorry about that," she apologized to the assassins. "Delvin doesn't know when to keep his nose in his own business."

"Hey, Vekel!" Brynjolf called to the man behind the wooden bar. "Can we get two mugs of ale over here?"

"Sure thing, Bryn," the barkeep replied.

"So, what do you have to tell us?" Hainin asked once he and Nazir had ale and bowls of brown soup in front of them.

Ziris let out a breath and looked past them to the pool of murky water in the center of the room. "When I was young, I used to live with my parents on a small farm, near Ivarstead," she began. "It wasn't a great life, but I was their only child, and the love was always there."

Hainin had a feeling he knew where this was going. Indeed, Ziris quickly finished off her tale in a single breath: "To put it simply, the farm was attacked by vampires and my parents were killed. That's it."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Guild Master," Nazir said.

"So am I," Hainin agreed quietly.

Ziris shook her head and let out a short laugh. "It doesn't matter anymore. It happened, and that's that. However, I'm sure you can understand, now, why vampires aren't my favorite thing."

Brynjolf sympathetically slid an arm around her, and Ziris adjusted herself so that she was pressed against his chest. "I just… please, take care of these vampires in any way that you can," she said quietly. "If you do, you will be welcome in the Ragged Flagon whenever you wish."

Hainin glanced towards Nazir. The Redguard nodded slightly to show that he understood. Hainin turned back to the two thieves sitting across the table from them and said, "We'll take care of whatever this is. You can count on it."

Ziris allowed him a small grin, and he returned it. He did want to get rid of the vampires, and not only for her, but for Skyrim as a whole. He had no idea as to what the bloodsuckers were doing, starting to come out more often and so near people, but he knew it couldn't possibly be good.

And he aimed to make it stop, in whatever way he could.

That evening, he and Nazir settled down on a pair of sleeping mats near the bar in the Flagon. Ziris had insisted, and Hainin knew better than to argue with her.

Nazir grunted a bit as he tried to get comfortable. Giving up after a moment, he slid his arm behind his head and looked at Hainin.

"I don't imagine the beds in the inn are any softer than these mats," he said with a smirk.

"Probably not," Hainin agreed, turning onto his side, facing the Redguard. "That's why I went ahead and accepted Ziris's offer."

Nazir smiled a bit, and reached out a hand. Hainin took it in his own, and Nazir squeezed.

"How're we going to handle tomorrow?" he asked.

"Dunno," Hainin admitted. "I was just sort of going to go with whatever happens."

Nazir rolled his eyes a bit, and took his hand back. "I have a lot of reason to say no to everything you decide on," he said.

"I know," Hainin replied, grinning. "But, we have fun this way, don't we?"

"Fun isn't the word I'd use," Nazir told him. "Get some sleep, Hainin."

"All right," Hainin said, watching as Nazir turned over. "Good night, Red."

Long after Nazir had settled into sleep, his gentle aborning filling the small area they were laying in, Hainin was still awake, gazing up into the dark. He could hear water moving , and he thought he could hear snoring that didn't belong to Nazir coming from somewhere nearby.

He sighed to himself, and placed his arm over his ear, doing his best to shut out the noises. He then closed his eyes tightly, and forced himself to relax.

Maybe accepting Ziris's offer hadn't been such a good idea after all.

All the same, he must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing he knew, Nazir was shaking him awake, and telling him that they were going to eat some breakfast before heading out.

And so they did. The eggs were fried, and the toast was warm. It was actually a pretty good meal. Yet another thing they owed to the Guild. If Hainin wasn't so optimistic, he would've assumed that Ziris was doing all this for them so she would have favors to call in.

She contradicted this momentary thought, however, just before Hainin and Nazir parted from her and Brynjolf on the surface.

"Thank you, Ziris," Hainin said as he and Nazir climbed partially up the stairs leading back to the main level of Riften. He turned to look at Ziris. "We appreciate you saving a bit of our gold."

Ziris dipped her head. "Go out there and get rid of those vampires, and we'll call it even," she said with a mirthless smile.

Hainin reached out and took her hand. Meeting her eyes, he raised it to his lips and kissed it lightly.

"We won't let them come this far west," he told her. "I promise you that much."

Ziris nodded to him, and Brynjolf stepped forward as she pulled her hand away..

"You lads be safe," he said to the assassins. "Wouldn't be right if the _assassins_ were killed."

Nazir chuckled hoarsely. "It would be ironic, if nothing else."

"All the same, keep your wits about you, even if you aren't dealing with vampires," Brynjolf advised. "I've heard the Dawnguard aren't the friendliest bunch, either."

"Well, when they realize we're there to help, I'm sure they'll be nice to us," Hainin answered jokingly, though Brynjolf's words had dropped like a stone into his stomach.

What if the Dawnguard did turn them away without answering the questions they had? What were they supposed to do, just wait for a war to emerge between the vampires and the vampire hunters?

Hainin didn't like that idea whatsoever.

Nazir placed a hand on his shoulder, and Hainin forced himself to smile. "We'll figure it out, either way." He nodded to the thieves and started to walk towards the gates of Riften with Nazir following.

"Be careful!" Ziris called after them. When Hainin glanced over his shoulder to wave, he saw that they were already gone. Disappeared into the shadows of the early morning, more than likely.

Hainin blinked, trying to find them, but they were gone, invisible or simply absent from where they had been standing beneath the alcove near the entrance to the Ratway.

He shook his head and faced forward again. Nazir gave him a sideways look.

"Do you think Brynjolf was right?" the Redguard queried.

Hainin didn't know whether Nazir wanted the truth, or if he wanted him to lie. He chose to simply shrug at the question, and his fellow assassin looked down at the ground briefly. It took a lot of Hainin's willpower to ignore the sudden urge he had to put an arm around him. Nazir didn't need to be comforted.

Indeed, the Redguard shook his head and said, "They won't ignore us if we offer to help them."

"I'm not joining the Dawnguard," Hainin replied immediately. Nazir looked at him.

"I didn't say that," he said. "I said we would offer to help."

"Helping is practically joining, especially if they keep asking for help," Hainin pointed out.

"Aren't you willing to do anything to get rid of these vampires?" Nazir questioned.

"Of course, but -"

"We may have to help them more than once," Nazir went on, cutting him off. "You'll do that, right?"

Hainin inhaled. "I'm not going to join the Dawnguard," he repeated slowly. "I won't do it."

"I'm not asking you to," Nazir said in exasperation. "I'm only wondering if we'll offer our assistance more than once, if they ask for it."

Hainin closed his eyes briefly. He knew that he didn't want to spend any unnecessary time away from the Sanctuary, but he knew that getting rid of the vampires was something they needed to do. And he knew, deep down, that he was willing to do anything to accomplish this goal, especially now that he knew what had happened to Ziris's parents because of vampires.

There was no reason for him to feel so deeply about wanting to get rid of these vampires, but for some reason, he wanted to give Ziris the satisfaction of knowing her parents had been avenged. Even if the vampires that had risen up weren't the same ones that had attacked her family, any vampire that threatened the public was a bad vampire, excluding Babette.

Only the Dark Brotherhood was allowed to threaten the public, and only because people paid them too.

So, though he wasn't very pleased about having to help the Dawnguard, he sighed and nodded slowly. "Yes," he said, "if they ask us for help more than once, we'll help. But only to get rid of the vampires. If they ask us to go tromping halfway across Skyrim to get some special 'Protection Against Vampire Bites Potion', we're not going."

Nazir's cheek twitched, and Hainin knew he was trying to hold back a smile. "Sounds like we have an agreement, then," the Redguard said.

They walked through the west gate of Riften, and Hainin pulled out the map of Skyrim he had swiped from the Sanctuary. He unfolded it and gazed down at it, eyeing the part Brynjolf had circled for him. "It looks like Dayspring Canyon is on the other side of this mountain here." He moved his thumb to the black circle. "We'll have to go through there -"

"Why must we go through the canyon?" Nazir asked, giving the map a glance. He pointed to the other circle that was marked "Fort Dawnguard." "We can't just walk there normally?"

Hainin shook his head. "Apparently, it's in the canyon." Nazir looked at him funny, and he lifted his shoulders. "That's what Brynjolf said. We have to go through the canyon in order to reach the Fort, which is at the other end."

"Blasted…" Nazir grumbled to himself and started walking down the road. Hainin lifted his eyebrow and smirked as he watched him, or rather, watched his backside. Nazir must have felt his eyes on his rear, because he looked over his shoulder. "Can I help you?"

Hainin pulled his eyes up to meet the Redguard's. "Sorry, I'm coming." Nazir gave him a look before he turned back around and kept walking. Hainin turned his gaze back to his rear.

"Hainin Marshal!" Nazir exclaimed.

"Right," Hainin replied absently. He grinned and jogged to catch up, joining Nazir. The Redguard roughly pulled the map from Hainin's hands and looked down at it. Hainin frowned. "What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'?" Nazir retorted. "You can't just do that."

Hainin gave him a funny look. "I'm sorry, is there a problem?" he asked. "I happen to find your ass rather nice to look at."

Nazir didn't look at him, holding onto the map so hard it started to tear.

"Must you look at it so blatantly in public?" he muttered, glancing over at a guard that passed them on the road.

"What are you talking about?" Hainin asked, genuinely confused.

"I don't want you to look at me like that when we're around others," Nazir growled.

"But… why?"

Nazir folded the map over and handed it to him without meeting his eyes. "I… I'm not comfortable with it. Not yet. Refrain, please."

Hainin's heart tightened, but he merely turned his gaze away from the Redguard walking beside him, looking down at the cobblestone beneath his feet.

"Fine," he mumbled. "As you wish."

Nazir didn't apologize like Hainin had thought he would, which only made the Imperial's heartache that much worse.

He swallowed thickly against the anger and hurt that formed inside of him and questioned, "Are we sure we're going the right direction?"

Nazir still didn't look at him. "You're the one with the map."

Hainin bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from saying anything and silently reopened the map. The path was marked with black ink; they were heading the right way. He folded it and clenched it tightly in one hand. Why was Nazir so open with him when they were alone, but refused to show what they were to others? It didn't make sense to Hainin whatsoever.

He glanced over at his fellow assassin. The Redguard's eyes were trained on the road. Hainin resisted the urge he had to take his hand and snuggle up close beside him. He was supposed to be angry with Nazir, hurt by his choices. Why was the man so damn enthralling even when he had been so… stiff?

He wanted to bring up something, to cease the awkwardness that had grown between them, so he just said the first thing that came to his mind: "Did you ever consider cutting off your beard?"

As soon as he said it, he felt color rise to his cheeks.

Nazir immediately raised his head in confusion. "What?" the Redguard queried, his voice lilting with laughter.

Without thinking, Hainin reached over and flicked the dark hair on his chin that was held together at the end by a gold ring.

"This," he said. "Are you ever going to get rid of it?"

"Well, I hadn't thought about it," Nazir replied, touching the beard with his fingers. "I mean, I suppose I could, but… I've had it for a long time, Hay."

 _You don't get to call me that when I'm angry at you._

"I was just thinking that you would look better without it," Hainin answered. He quickly turned forward, cursing himself. That wasn't what he had meant to say at all.

Nazir frowned unhappily at his words. "Oh," he said quietly. "I hadn't known you didn't like it."

"It's not that," Hainin insisted. "It's just… it doesn't suit you, I don't think." He closed his eyes and released a breath. _This could be going a lot better. You idiot._ "Sithis's blood," he mumbled. "I'm sorry, Red. I don't know why I'm suddenly being so rude."

Nazir sighed. "I think I can guess." He looked at Hainin. "Hainin, please understand that this has nothing to do with you at all. I feel very strongly about you, but I don't know if I'm comfortable with anyone else knowing that just yet."

Hainin bowed his head, not responding.

"Hey." Nazir stopped walking and reached out one arm to bar Hainin's way, in turn grabbing his armor and turning him in his direction. He tilted Hainin's face upwards by taking his chin in his fingers. "Don't think that this changes anything."

Hainin stared beseechingly into Nazir's eyes, wanting very much to believe him.

"You're wrong," he replied quietly. "It changes everything." Nazir shook his head, but Hainin went on, ignoring this: "The only time I'm going to be allowed to hold you is when we're alone. The only time I'm going to be able to look at you is when no one else is around. It was already hard enough to avoid this when I hadn't known you shared my feelings, and now that I know that you do…" He trailed off and pulled away from Nazir. "I don't…"

"Hainin," Nazir sighed gently. "I just need time. Can't you… give that to me?"

Hainin wished that he could. He truly, very much wished that he could give Nazir all the time in the world to grow comfortable with showing their affections for one another to everyone. But as he turned to look at the Redguard, to say no, Nazir gave him the most hurt look he'd ever received before in his life. And he'd spoken to people before he killed them, when they knew that's what he had come for. He knew what hurt and desperation looked like on a person. Seeing it on Nazir, however, broke something inside of him.

He nodded, closing his eyes.

"All right," he murmured, "I'll wait for you."

He opened his eyes when he felt Nazir's hand on his cheek.

"Thank you," the Redguard said before he softly kissed Hainin on the lips. Hainin resisted the temptation to kiss him back, knowing that he needed to show Nazir he wasn't happy with this agreement.

The assassin pulled back, understanding, and started walking again. Hainin lingered back only a moment before following.

* * *

 **And there's Ziris's cameo!**


	6. The Merry Old Land of Fort Dawnguard

**I do not own Elder Scrolls V: Skryim, just Hainin Marshal.**

* * *

"Gods be good," Hainin gasped. "Where in the Void could this place possibly be?"

It was already starting to grow dark, and the two assassin had spent the last two hours trying to locate the entrance to Dayspring Canyon. They had no idea where it could be; they had been scanning the mountain it was found in to no avail. It seemed like it didn't exist.

"Sithis's blood!" Hainin exclaimed when he ran into Nazir. The two had decided to circle the mountain in opposite directions, and, apparently, the Redguard hadn't found anything, either. "This is getting out of hand."

"I agree," Nazir answered, giving the mountain side a glare. "This is absolutely atrocious. Where could it be?"

Hainin threw up his hands, and the Redguard glowered.

"Well, damn," he muttered. "Soon we won't be able to see anything at all, let alone an entrance to a canyon that doesn't exist!"

Hainin cursed under his breath. "We're going to have to make camp until we can look for it again," he said, annoyed. "We'll never be able to find it in the darkness."

Nazir merely dropped the pack he was wearing onto the ground. "It appears that's our only option, doesn't it?" he asked, beginning to sound more defeated that angry.

Hainin couldn't blame him for how he was acting. They were both exhausted, and, if Nazir was anything like Hainin, the Redguard also had a headache that was constantly stabbing the area above his left eyebrow. The Listener wanted nothing more than to curl up under his warm green blanket back at the Dawnstar Sanctuary and fall asleep, but since he was halfway across Skyrim from his warm green blanket and the Dawnstar Sanctuary, his only other option was to join Nazir in laying out the bedrolls.

He chose to do that rather than complain about having to pause the search, since setting up camp had been his idea. He pulled off his own pack with a sigh and crouched down to search inside of it. Nazir walked past him as he did so, a hand brushing through Hainin's hair as he strolled by.

Hainin gave him a look, curious.

"What was that?" he queried, watching the Redguard squat down and gather some stones together to make a fire pit.

Nazir smiled. "You ever think of cutting it off?" he teased, chuckling.

Hainin frowned, his brow furrowing instantly. "Hey," he warned, reaching up to protect his hair with his hand. "Don't you even go there; I need my hair."

He pulled out his bedroll and tossed it to the other assassin. Nazir caught it easily and unrolled beside his own next to the fire pit.

Hainin turned to gather some branches to get a fire going. He felt Nazir's eyes on him as he flashed a fire spell at the pile he formed after a moment. The branches and pine needles instantly caught the flames, and a fire was burning brightly before them a few seconds later.

"Where'd you learn that?" Nazir asked him as Hainin joined him on top of the bedrolls. When the Imperial lifted an eyebrow at him, the Redguard gestured to the fire, and then to Hainin's hand.

Hainin sighed sadly and clenched his fist. "Festus taught me a few spells."

Nazir shifted his gaze to the fire at the old wizard's name. Hainin bowed his head, biting his lip. "I miss them, y'know?" he asked quietly. Nazir nodded in understanding, and Hainin snorted. "Funny, thinking about it after all this time."

"You don't?" Nazir questioned, glancing in his direction.

Hainin shrugged. "Not if I can avoid it. Brings up too many memories. I've already cried enough over it; no reason to dwell on what happened."

Nazir nodded, though clearly he didn't agree with Hainin's view on the matter. The Imperial lifted his eyes to him, waiting. The Redguard indeed spoke up: "It doesn't mean we can't think about it, though. It wasn't our fault whatsoever."

"It was mine," Hainin said quietly.

"Hay -"

"It was, Nazir. Astrid wanted me dead because I'm the Listener. Her death wish on me set the whole chain of events in motion. My joining the Family caused everything." He laid down on his back, gazing up at the sky. "Do you know what that feels like? To carry around that sort of thing on your shoulders? It makes me wonder how I'm able to come back to the Sanctuary after I finish a job and look Babette in the eye, knowing I killed her Family."

He turned his head towards Nazir. "It's even worse with you."

"Hainin, it wasn't your fault," Nazir attempted. "Astrid let her need for power infest her mind. She went to desperate measures to make sure she didn't lose the control over the Brotherhood she had, and she lost it because of that. She lost everything, and everyone, because she was worried she would be kicked out of her position as queen."

He reached over and touched Hainin's knee. "You had nothing to do with Astrid's obsession. I promise you that neither I nor Babette blame you for the loss of the Family," he swore gently.

Hainin forced a grateful smile, though Nazir knew him well enough to know when he was faking. The Redguard ignored it, and Hainin scooted closer to him. Nazir grinned slightly and pulled Hainin's head down into his lap.

The two gazed silently at the red-orange flames before them for a long while.

After a bit, Hainin grinned and looked up at Nazir. The Redguard felt his eyes and glanced down.

"What are you smirking about?" he asked.

Hainin didn't stop grinning. Without a word, he drew his dagger from its scabbard and, in one quick motion, sliced off Nazir's beard just above the gold ring.

The Redguard cursed in surprise as Hainin held up the hair between his thumb and pointer finger, laughing.

"You look so much better already!" he said.

Nazir ripped the beard from his fingers, and then held it gingerly in his hand. "I can't believe you did that," he mumbled, too dumbfounded to be angry.

Hainin sat up, still laughing. "What did you expect to happen when I pulled out my dagger?" he asked, sliding the weapon back into its scabbard.

Nazir sighed sadly and slid the gold ring from the fallen beard before he tossed the dark hair into the fire. He reached up and scratched at the remaining facial hair, and glanced at Hainin.

The Listener sighed before pulling his dagger out once more. He pushed Nazir down onto his back and straddled him, reaching for one of the water skins he had taken from his pack. He splashed some water onto Nazir's face and then some onto the blade.

He held up the dagger, glancing down at Nazir. "Don't worry," he said. "I do this all the time. You're going to look very nice."

Slowly, carefully, he started to clean up the remainder of Nazir's facial hair. Nazir gazed up at him, brows drawn together unhappily.

"I'm annoyed with you," he informed the Imperial.

Hainin grinned, not looking up from his work. "I don't care. You're going to look better."

It didn't take long to shave him, and within a few minutes, Nazir's face was cleaned up. Hainin smiled at his success and nodded appreciatively.

"Yes, I knew it. You're definitely the most handsome man I've ever met now. Well, other than myself, of course."

He climbed off of the Redguard and wiped his dagger on a grass. Nazir sat up and touched his chin and cheeks. Hainin had left a thin layer of dark stubble that would grow out and need to be shaved again, but it gave Nazir a very attractive, dark look to him. Much better than that unneeded clump of hair that had originally dangled from his chin.

Nazir let out a breath and looked at him. "Are you sure?" he queried.

Hainin nodded reassuringly. "Of course. I wouldn't have done it otherwise. Don't you trust me?"

"Not anymore," the Redguard responded. He held up the gold ring, the only thing that remained of his original style. "If we get home and Babette laughs at me, I'm cutting off your hair."

"Good luck with that!" Hainin chortled. He put his dagger away and crawled back over to where his bedroll awaited.

Before he could reach it, however, Nazir grabbed the back of his armor and pulled him to a halt. Hainin glanced back at him. "What?"

"I'm not finished," Nazir responded. He tugged on Hainin's belt insistently, and the Imperial slid backwards toward him. He leaned his head back, and Nazir frowned at him. "You really don't deserve this, you know that?"

In answer, Hainin reached up and put a hand on the back of Nazir's neck to pull his lips down, leaning up on his opposite elbow to meet the Redguard halfway. Before their lips could touch, however, there was the click of something metal, and the sound of heavy boots on the foliage around them.

"Don't move," someone commanded gruffly. "There are four of us here, and all of us are holding machines that you won't even begin to understand. Each machine can easily kill you in one shot, and that's all you need to know. If you would like to stay alive, I would suggest staying still."

Hainin groaned against Nazir's lips, annoyed. "Of course," he sighed. "Someone always interrupts just when the fun part it about to begin."

After being yanked to their feet by two burly characters in leather armor, and having their wrists bound, Hainin was shoved along behind Nazir into a cave that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere in the side of the mountain. As soon as they had passed through it to the other side and into the darkened canyon, the Listener cursed rather loudly.

"Of course, we can't find it by ourselves," he said, "but when someone comes and takes us prisoner, we have no problem!"

"Quiet." The leader of the band of Dawnguard that had found them outside the canyon gave him a glare. "No talking."

Hainin returned the glare, still annoyed. "How about you let us explain what we're doing here, and then decide whether or not you want to keep us tied up like this." He held up his bound hands.

"Hainin," Nazir warned, glancing over his shoulder at him. "Please stop talking."

The Imperial frowned at him, but closed his mouth all the same. The troupe of Dawnguard marched them down the canyon in silence. Hainin gazed around, though he couldn't see much considering the moons were both thin claws in the sky overhead and there was barely any light leaking down into the canyon.

They walked on for quite a bit of time in silence, until Hainin caught sight of a giant, dark form in the distance. His eyes widened. "Is that -?"

"Fort Dawnguard," one of the Dawnguard confirmed. "Isran has been fixing it up and making it suitable to our needs for a few months now."

"Shut up!" his leader ordered, whacking him over the head with the back of his hand. "What did I tell you before?"

The Dawnguard bowed his head. "We're not supposed to say anything to anyone outside the canyon," he said quietly.

"That's the thing, though!" Hainin exclaimed. He pulled against the rope around his wrists. "We're here to help you with the vampires!"

Immediately, the leader grabbed the front of his armor and pulled him abruptly to a halt. "What do you know about vampires?" he hissed, leering into Hainin's face.

The Imperial pushed the Breton away half-heartedly and, again, held up his hands. "Take these off and then we'll talk," he muttered.

The Breton growled deep in his throat and pushed him back in line. "If you won't talk to me, perhaps you'll talk to Isran," he threatened.

"Oh, I'm quaking in my boots!" Hainin responded before he spat at the Breton's feet.

"You -" The Breton began, but a female Bosmer reached forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Celann, he's not worth it," she told him softly.

Celann glared at Hainin a moment longer before he merely snorted and tightened his grip on the machine he was holding. "Let's keep going," he said to the others.

The Bosmer glanced at Hainin, and he lowered his gaze to the ground, annoyed. He would've gladly taken whatever Celann had thrown at him, just so he would have been able to return it.

Nazir turned to look at him as Hainin picked up his pace, and the Redguard narrowed his eyes.

"What is your problem?" he demanded quietly but angrily. "You're going to make these people hate us before we even have a chance to explain what we're doing here!"

"They're not giving us a chance!" Hainin retorted in a sharp whisper. "How are we supposed to explain we want to help them when they aren't letting us?"

"Just keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking from here on, all right?" Nazir questioned, facing forward. "Do what you do best: sit back and _listen_."

"Excuse you?" Hainin asked, taken back.

"You heard me," Nazir replied. "Shut up and don't say anything else."

Hainin inhaled sharply and was about to retort when Celann called for the party to halt. He almost ran into the Nord who had been saying too much, but he stopped just before he did so.

"What now?" he said to the Breton.

Celann didn't look at him, but merely gestured forward with his weapon. Hainin turned his gaze to where he was pointing and let out a low whistle. They were standing in front of Fort Dawnguard. The giant gray stone building loomed up above the walls of the canyon, its many towers giving it the look of a castle more than that of a fort.

"By the Sands," Nazir said from beside him.

"Pretty nice, huh?" the Nord in front of Hainin asked, grinning.

"It's huge."

"Yes, it is," Celann agreed, "similar to the size of the problem you're going to be facing as soon as we go inside. Come on."

Hainin couldn't resist an eye roll as the Breton walked up the stone stairs and tugged on the handle of one of the big double doors. It opened towards them with a subtle screeching sound. Hainin flinched.

"Welcome to Fort Dawnguard," the Bosmer said, giving both assassins a small smile as she pushed them up the stairs.

Hainin and Nazir stepped into the fort at the same time, and Hainin's eyes went wide. "By the Eight," he said quietly in awe.

The room they had stepped into was giant and domed. Weak moonlight filtered in from the giant window on the ceiling, and several halls were cut into the walls and marked with tall columns. Hainin literally had to spin around in a circle before he could speak again.

"This place is… enormous."

"Yes, it is," someone agreed from behind him. Hainin turned to see a Redguard walk out from one of the side halls with stairs at the end. He approached the group in the center of the room slowly, eyeing the assassins all the while.

When he reached them, he stopped and glanced from Nazir to Hainin and back again before looking at Celann. "I see you were right, and I was wrong."

"You owe me some ale, old friend," Celann replied. He shoved Hainin forward towards the Redguard. "This one has been giving me some trouble."

"Isran, I assume?" Hainin asked, straightening. When the Redguard merely stared at him, he nodded to his hands. "I would shake, but I'm a bit tied up."

Isran wasn't amused by the joke. He ignored Hainin and turned to Nazir. "What are you doing in Fort Dawnguard?" he questioned.

Nazir shrugged his shoulders. "Why don't you ask your friends? They're the ones that brought us here."

Isran's eyes narrowed. "I had hoped that you'd be smarter than your friend here, seeing as how you are also Redguard, but it seems my thought was wrong," he muttered darkly. "I want to know why you were outside the canyon."

Nazir looked at Hainin. The Imperial lifted an eyebrow. "He's asking you, Red."

"We're here to learn more about the vampire problem," Nazir said to Isran.

The Redguard cocked his head. "What do you know of the vampires?"

"Not much," Nazir responded. "Hainin was in Morthal when a vampire attacked his horse in a clearing outside the city."

Celann glanced at Isran. "They're getting bolder," he murmured.

"So I'm hearing," Isran replied. The Redguard turned and walked off a few paces, hands behind his back. "A while ago, when I was still a Vigilant of Stendarr, my family was murdered by vampire cultists. Celann lost his family as well. We tried to get the others to see vampires were a problem, but the Vigil thought my methods were slightly extreme."

"We left the order to form our own partnership, but it didn't last," Celann went on. "I didn't agree with some of what Isran was doing, either."

Isran turned back around to face them. "A few months ago, a group of vampires attacked the Nightgate Inn in the Pale. I was staying there at the time. They came out in daylight, something I had never seen vampires do before. It was as if they didn't fear the sun in the same way they had."

"What happened?" Hainin asked.

"I managed to kill two, but the others ran off before I could do anything about them. A few days later, I heard about another attack in the Rift, near Ivarstead. A pair of hunters were found slaughtered on the side of the road, teeth marks and claw marks marring their bodies," Isran said.

"Isran contacted me about the attacks. I had already heard about them myself," Celann added. "We decided it was high time to do something about the demons, and so we aimed to start the Dawnguard." He held out his hands, odd mechanical weapon in one. "This is what we've accomplished so far."

Hainin glanced at Nazir. The Redguard was gazing at Isran. "What do you plan on doing about them?" he queried.

"We plan on finding out where they're hiding and killing them at the source," Isran answered. "Unfortunately, we haven't heard anything new in a while. At least, until you arrived with news of another attack."

"So close to a city," the Bosmer said quietly. She glanced at her commanders. "Do you think it's near Morthal?"

Isran shook his head. "They may attack close to a city, but vampires wouldn't set up near humans unless necessary."

"So you think they're far from civilization?" Hainin frowned. "Where could that be?"

"Probably on some undiscovered island somewhere," Celann said.

"Isran, don't forget about Brother Tolan," the Nord said. They all turned to look at him, and he lifted his shoulders. "Vampires attacked the Hall of the Vigilant, too. He spoke with you this morning."

"Ah yes," Isran agreed. "I meant to send someone to Dimhollow Crypt to find out just what the vampires are after, but I was busy after speaking with Tolan."

"Why don't you send these two?" Celann offered. He nodded to Hainin and Nazir. "The Imperial said they wanted to help."

"Ahah, I didn't mean that we were going to go sneaking through caves after vampires," Hainin interrupted. "I thought we could maybe go to wherever they were hiding and kill 'em all."

"Well, perhaps you'll find out where they are in Dimhollow," Isran replied.

He nodded to the Nord, who moved forward and undid the bindings on Hainin and Nazir's wrists. Isran folded his arms over his chest and watched as Hainin rubbed his wrists.

"You and your friend will go to Dimhollow Crypt and figure out whatever it was the vampires were after," he told him. "If you find anything, you are to bring the information to me at once. Do you understand?"

Hainin wanted to disagree, but Nazir stepped in front of him with a nod.

"Just give us a route and we'll be on our way." He passed Isran their map, and the Redguard walked off to mark it.

Hainin stepped around Nazir and glared at him. "What did I say before about tromping across Skyrim?" he hissed quietly.

"You said in search of potions," Nazir reminded him. "This is to figure out where the vampires are. We'll figure that out first, and then we'll deal with them with the help of our new friends.."

Before Hainin could argue further, Isran came back, map in hand. He handed it to Nazir, saying, "You can set off in the morning. For now, get some sleep. I have a feeling that the vampires aren't going to just let you stroll right into the cave."

The Redguard turned and walked away down the main hall, the other Dawnguard members following behind him. Hainin grabbed Nazir's robes before he could as well, and pulled him to a halt. "We're not going to get friendly with them," he warned.

"I don't want to," Nazir replied, "but they're offering us a place to sleep that's much warmer than outside, and I aim to see what it is."

He pulled his robes from Hainin's grasp and went after the Dawnguard. Hainin cursed under his breath in annoyance before following with a huff.

* * *

 **The fuckin' Dawnguard. They're okay sometimes, but I feel like they only like the people who are actually a part of their squad. They need to learn to be friendlier to outsiders.**


	7. Assassins and Vampires and Serana, Oh My

**I do not own Elder Scrolls V: Skryim, just Hainin Marshal.**

* * *

"All I'm going to say is that you are very lucky it's so close to Dawnstar," Hainin informed Nazir as the two assassins walked down the road towards the secret entrance to the Dawnstar Sanctuary.

Nazir merely rolled his eyes in exasperation as a response, and Hainin let out a breath to calm his quickly rising temper. The return journey to Dawnstar after the trip to Riften had been a strangely silent one, and not without awkwardness. Hainin hated being in this situation with Nazir; he just wanted things normal again.

Unfortunately, it seemed like that wasn't going to be possible.

Shadowmere let out a happy nicker when the two assassins approached his stable, and Hainin grinned for the first time since they'd left the Rift. He reached forward and stroked the stallion's velvety nose.

"Hey, buddy," he greeted. "Miss us?"

Shadowmere seemed to look over his shoulder at Nazir, and snorted. Hainin's grin grew, and he glanced at Nazir. "Guess not."

"I'll win the horse's affections one day," the Redguard swore. "I won yours, didn't I?"

It was Hainin who snorted this time, and he peered around Shadowmere to make sure he still had hay before giving the horse one last pat and heading towards the rock outcropping that hid the secret entrance.

Nazir followed. "Don't snort at me," he said. "I did."

"For what it's worth, you're not doing too great a job at keeping them," Hainin responded, pulling the wooden planks away from the sewer-like opening.

Nazir gazed at him.

"I let you cut off my beard."

Hainin allowed a chuckle and ushered the Redguard into the hole before following, pulling the planks back into place.

Together, they walked down the path to the stained glass door at the end, and Hainin prepared himself for Cicero's onslaught before pulling it open.

" _ **Listener**_!"

"Sithis," Hainin sighed, and then held out his arms to catch Cicero as the jester jumped into them.

"Listener, Listener, Listener!" Cicero cheered, clambering backwards after squeezing the breath out of Hainin. "We thought you'd be gone for a long time!"

"Crazy's right, for once," Babette agreed, appearing from down the hall leading down to the bedrooms. "What're you two doing back so soon?"

"The Dawnguard sent us on a bit of mission," Nazir explained, heading past her towards the rooms. Hainin followed, knowing full well that they needed to refresh on a few supplies. Cicero and Babette came after them.

"What kind?" Babette queried.

"Apparently, some of the vampires are hiding out in Dimhollow Crypt," Hainin responded, opening a chest at the foot of his bed in the master bedroom. He retrieved an extra quiver of arrows and pulled one out to make sure it was sharp before sliding it back in and putting the quiver over his shoulder. "They want us to go there and see what we can find."

"And then what? Go back to Riften to report in?" Babette asked incredulously. "That's ridiculous."

"That's what I said," Hainin agreed, re-entering the hallway and eyeing Nazir. "This one had his mind made up, though."

"Hainin, you're the one who said that he wanted to figure out what the vampires were doing," Nazir said, holding up his hands. "If you're ready to go back on that decision, we can stay here."

"No, we can't," Hainin retorted. "The Dawnguard are already expecting us to come back with some kind of explanation. If we don't, I wouldn't put it past them to come looking for us. It's not like there's anything else for them to do at this point."

"Isran might just send out another pair to investigate," Nazir remarked, the three other assassins following Hainin back out into the main room.

"Who's Isran?" Babette asked, frowning.

"Redguard who's in charge of the Dawnguard," Hainin answered shortly before he turned to look at Nazir. "Do you really think he'd do that when he could waste our lives rather than that of his own people?"

Nazir's expression gave his answer, and Hainin nodded. "Right. So, we're going to Dimhollow Crypt. We're going to find out what the vampires are trying to do, if they're trying to do anything, and then we're going to go back to Riften and tell your new friend what it is we found."

"Can Cicero come this time?" the jester begged, putting his hands together. "Pretty please?"

"Sure," Hainin replied. "We'll need all the help we can get."

"Goodie!" Cicero said, clapping before he scurried back down the hall to go gather his own supplies.

Babette eyed Hainin as he pulled on the string of his bow. "You don't really want to go," she said after a moment.

"Of course not," he answered, "but I don't have a choice."

"You could send Cicero and Nazir alone."

"Hey," Nazir said, giving her a look.

"No, I have to go because I promised Ziris I'd take care of this vampire problem," Hainin said quietly.

"Ziris?" Babette's frown deepened, her eyebrows coming together. "You mean the Master of the Thieves Guild? The one you fought with in Helgen?"

"That's her," Hainin confirmed with a nod.

"Why would you promise her that?" Babette queried, and Nazir glanced at her. She let out a breath. "Her parents were killed by vampires, right?" Hainin nodded again, and she bowed her head. "Should have guessed."

"We're going to do this," Hainin said firmly, lifting his gaze. He looked at Nazir. "All right?" The Redguard dipped his head, and Cicero reemerged from the hall, a pack slung over his shoulder. "Let's go," he said to his two friends, putting his bow onto his back.

"Be careful," Babette advised as Nazir pushed opened the stained glass door. "Do you have potions?"

"Two," Hainin answered. "It's all we had already."

"Well, don't get bitten," the vampire child said. "You'll end up like me."

Hainin allowed a half-grin. "That would just be awful," he said.

"I'm serious, Hainin," Babette said, not returning the smile. "You don't want to be a vampire."

Hainin's grin slid off of his face, and he nodded. "We'll be careful. C'mon, boys."

He stepped through the stained glass door first, with Nazir and Cicero following him. The three assassins walked in silence up the path to the entrance, and Hainin pushed the planks out of the way as he climbed out.

When both his companions were beside him, he re-hid the entrance and pulled out the map Isran had marked.

"Southwest," he said after studying it for a moment. He glanced up at the sky, towards the sun, and then pointed. "We'll be taking a bit of a shortcut."

"You mean traipsing through snow," Nazir concluded.

"Yes."

"Good," the Redguard mumbled, tightening the knot holding his robe closed.

Together, the three assassins headed out across the snow in the direction Hainin had pointed. Nazir and Hainin lingered behind Cicero as the jester leapt through the snow drifts, humming to himself as he did so.

After a few minutes of walking, Nazir leaned towards Hainin and murmured, "Babette was right, you know. Vampirism is not something anyone wants to contract."

"And we won't," Hainin assured. "We have two potions of cure disease; we'll be fine."

"That's the thing, though," Nazir said softly. "There's only two, and a good chance that there's a lot more vampires than two potions can handle."

Hainin spared him another grin. "We'll be just fine. You worry too much," he said teasingly.

Nazir gazed at him a moment before he smiled as well, and faced forward. "I'll share your optimism," he replied with a shake of his head.

"Good."

Truthfully, Hainin was a bit terrified. The last thing he wanted to witness was one of his companions being bitten by a vampire and slowly going through the change. What if Nazir was right to worry? What if bad luck bit them in the ass, and they lost the two potions they had?

Hainin shook his head to himself. He needed to not worry about that; the chances of the three of them getting bitten _and_ losing the potions were almost as slim as Hainin ever deciding he wanted to cut his hair off.

The journey to Dimhollow Crypt took a good two hours on foot, and the three assassins finally crested a snow covered hill top to reveal the cave directly below them.

Hainin frowned. "I expected a ruin," he said after a moment.

"As did I," Nazir agreed. "All the same, it's here. Come on." The Redguard led the way down the cliff they were standing on, Hainin and Cicero carefully following after him so they wouldn't slip on the snowy rock. When they'd reached the bottom, Hainin spared a glance around.

The basin out front was lit by a burning fire. Someone was definitely there.

"All right," Hainin said, letting out a breath. "We're going to take this nice and slow. Watch one another's backs, and if we can avoid a fight, we're going to avoid it." He shot a pointed looked at Cicero as he spoke, and the jester grinned cheerfully in response.

Hainin nodded once and pulled his bow off his back before leading the way into the cave. There was a short passage that opened up into a main cavern, lit sparingly by a few torches. As soon as the assassins entered, they heard a conversation echoing off the cavern walls, and Hainin pressed his finger against his lips to silence his companions as he took in what was before them.

A waterfall tumbled out of the ceiling into a pool a few dozen feet below them. Behind the waterfall was a giant stone door. To the right, against the far wall, Hainin could see two figures. They appeared to be human, but he had a feeling they were far from mortal.

He glanced back at the door and blinked at what he saw. A giant creature that looked like an oversized dog was patrolling back and forth in front of it. A vampire leaned casually against the wall beside the door, watching the creature move back and forth.

"What in Sithis's name is that?" he whispered to Nazir, and the Redguard merely shook his head.

"Death hound!" Cicero supplied. Both assassins turned to look at him, and Cicero pointed to the creature. "I saw one in a book."

"The jester reads," Nazir said, looking at Hainin in surprise.

The Listener shook his head and nocked an arrow. He took aim at the creature, tracking it as it patrolled along in front of the door. He let the arrow fly, and grinned as it sank into the death hound's neck. The giant dog-like thing fell to the snowy ground at once.

"Nice shot," Nazir said.

Hainin had already nocked another arrow and was aiming for the vampire that had been leaning against the wall near the death hound. The death of its pet had alerted the vampire, and he was straightening up to call for his friends when Hainin's arrow found its mark in the creature's chest.

The other two vampires were undisturbed by the deaths, and Hainin gestured for his companions to follow him as he quietly snuck down the path towards the door, keeping one eye on the vampires as he went.

They reached the door, and Hainin cursed silently when he saw that it was blocked. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed a tower on a higher level, beyond the two vampires. He exchanged a glance with Cicero, who nodded and pranced towards the vampires.

Hainin took aim and killed the one farthest away from him and Nazir as Cicero leaned up and slid his dagger across the other's throat. Both vampires fell at the same time, and Cicero stepped backwards with a giggle.

"Good work," Hainin said to the jester before pointing at the tower. Cicero went to inspect it, and Hainin yanked his arrow out of the vampire that had been closest to the door as the door's blockade rose. Cicero returned to the two of them, Hainin's arrow in one hand.

Hainin accepted it and nodded to the door. "Let's keep going."

Nazir was studying the dead vampire at his feet. "Ugly thing, isn't?" he queried after a moment, kicking it.

"We can rate his looks once this place is cleared out and we know what they're doing here," Hainin responded. "Come on."

The door had opened to reveal another passage, and the three assassins followed it to another, a stream running towards the direction they had to go.

" _Following the stream_!" Cicero sang, and Nazir and Hainin both shushed him. "Sorry!" the jester apologized in a whisper.

However, his exclamation had already attracted something's attention, for the three assassins could hear movement coming towards them from the end of the passage. Hainin glared at Cicero as he nocked an arrow and pulled it back, taking aim.

A skeleton came lumbering from the passage, clicking. Hainin released the arrow, and it bounced off the dead creature's hip bone. It stumbled, and Nazir went to finish it. Hainin saw the vampire that came after the skeleton a moment too late, and the delayed arrow he fired hit the immortal a moment after.

Nazir let out a hiss and dropped his scimitar as Hainin's arrow hit the female vampire in the shoulder. Cicero quickly hurried forward, throwing his dagger. The blade sank into the vampire's chest, and the creature fell to the ground as Cicero pulled out another and pushed it into the skeleton's skull.

Hainin hurried to Nazir and took his hand to examine the wound, cringing when he saw the curved line of a vampire's bite on the Redguard's palm.

"Damn thing moved fast," Nazir allowed, wincing. "I'll be fine."

"You need a potion," Hainin insisted, reaching to pull off his pack.

"No, Hay, I don't," Nazir promised, using his other hand to stop him. "I'm a Redguard."

"So?"

"I don't catch diseases."

Hainin gazed at him incredulously. "So, why were you acting worried before?" he demanded after a moment, and Nazir grinned.

"I wanted you to worry about me if I actually was bitten," he replied. "I appreciate your concern, Hay."

"Nazir…"

"Really, I'll be fine," the Redguard promised. "Let's just keep going."

Hainin shook his head and pulled his pack off, rooted around inside it for a moment, and then produced the potion bottle. Nazir looked at him with a lifted eyebrow, and the Listener held the bottle towards him.

"I'm not taking chances," he said softly. "Drink it. Please."

Nazir let out a breath, but he knew there was no arguing. He accepted the bottle and swallowed the potion before tossing it away with a shake of his head.

"It was a waste," he informed Hainin, who merely shrugged and pulled his pack back on.

"Better to waste a potion than to lose you because you think you're safe." He glanced at Cicero. "Find anything useful?"

Cicero held up a small pouch of gold that he'd pulled out of the vampire's robe, and Hainin nodded. "Good. Let's move."

The three assassins progressed deeper into the cave. Hainin grew certain more than once that they were merely going in circles, but every time they came across a new set of threats he was assured that they were going the right way.

The right way to what, he had absolutely no idea, but at least they weren't treading on their own heels.

At one point, they had to fight off a group of Draugr _and_ a vampire _and_ a death hound, and Hainin was afraid that Cicero was going to get bit as the jester danced around the vampire's blade, but when he came prancing over with the vampire's enchanted weapon in hand, Hainin knew he was fine.

It wasn't until they reached an area before a door that they were in danger. Three vampires and two spiders were sharing the space, and Hainin stopped abruptly just before the three of them could attract the enemies' attentions.

"We can't go in there," he finally whispered. "It's too much."

"We don't have any other choice," Nazir answered under his breath. "This is the only way."

Hainin sighed and pulled out an arrow. He placed it against the bow string and exchanged a glance with Cicero, who was on his other side.

"Be careful," he mouthed, and the jester nodded. Hainin let the arrow fly, and it hit one of the vampires in the shoulder.

The fight began. Both of his companions entered the room ahead of him, and Hainin remained where he was, shooting arrow after arrow. For the first time in a long time, he let his panic get the best of him, and his arrows missed their marks more often than they hit them.

It wasn't until he heard a hiss of pain did he realize that he was ruining any chance of the three of them winning the fight, and he focused on actually killing, putting his bow away and entering the room, drawing his own daggers as he jumped at the vampire that had cornered Cicero.

He dug one blade into its neck and the other into its back, pulling it away from the jester, who was cowering against the wall. Only when he was certain the creature's strange orange eyes had stopped glowing did he pull his daggers out of it and step away, breathing heavily.

"Hainin!" Nazir called, and Hainin turned around quickly and flung one of the weapons into the eye of the spider that was sneaking up behind him. The hairy thing collapsed to the ground, the last of the threats to be alive, and Hainin pulled off his pack and handed it to Nazir.

"Cicero's bit," he said softly before moving to retrieve the dagger he had thrown. He cleaned the spider's innards off of the blade as he heard Nazir persuade Cicero to drink the potion, and then there was a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll watch your back," Nazir promised him.

Hainin merely nodded, and Nazir went back to tend to Cicero. Hainin glanced down at his wrist and winced at the very obvious crescent shaped vampire bite on his skin. He reached into his pack, which Nazir had set down on the floor, and pulled on his gloves in order to hide the wound.

 _No need to worry_ , he assured to himself. _Just have to get through this and then go to Dawnstar to get a potion. I'm going to be fine._

"Are we ready?" he asked his companions, slinging his pack over his shoulder again and sliding his daggers into their sheaths on his waist.

"Cicero did not mean to get bitten, Listener," the jester said quietly.

"I know," Hainin answered immediately. "It's all right. Let's get this over with."

He led them through the door. The three assassins found themselves standing at the top of an extremely tall set of stairs that led down into a cavern.

Voices met them immediately, and Hainin held up one hand to keep his companions quiet so he could listen to it.

A man's voice spoke first: "I'll never tell you anything, vampire. My oath to Stendarr is stronger than any suffering you can inflict on me!"

"I believe you, Vigilant," the vampire he'd spoken to answered. "And I don't think you even know what you've found here. So go and meet your beloved Stendarr."

The first voice was heard again, as a cry of pain, and then a third voice spoke, female this time. "Are you sure that was wise, Lokil? He might still have told us something. We haven't gotten anywhere ourselves with –"

"He knew nothing," Lokil said simply. "He served his purpose by leading us to this place. Now, it is up to us to bring Harkon the prize."

Hainin's eyebrow raised, and he glanced at Nazir. "Harkon?" he mouthed, and the Redguard lifted his shoulders.

Hainin returned his attention to the conversation.

"We will not return without it," Lokil was saying. "Vingalmo and Orthjolf will make way for me after this."

"Yes, of course Lokil," the female answered. "Do not forget who brought you news of the Vigilants' discovery."

"I never forget who my friends are," Lokil assured. "Or my enemies."

Hainin chose to creep forward then, and saw the two vampires standing outside a giant structure in the center of the cavern. He pulled out an arrow and took aim at the male, Lokil. He let out a breath as the vampire bite on his wrist burned against the rubbing of his glove, and he let the arrow fly.

It sank not into the vampire's back, like he'd hoped, but rather into his shoulder. The vampire hissed and pulled the arrow out, turning to face the direction it has come from. Orange eyes sparked as they landed on the three assassins.

"Attackers!" he exclaimed, his hands beginning to glow with magic.

"Uh-oh," Hainin muttered, retreating back a few paces. To his surprise, Cicero flew down the stairs towards both vampires, daggers swinging. "Cicero!" he exclaimed in exasperation.

"Let him do his thing," Nazir said, coming up beside him. "He feels bad."

Hainin sighed, but remained where he was as the jester took on both vampires alone. Much to Hainin's relief, they were dead in a few moments, and he and Nazir were able to join Cicero before the structure. Hainin lifted an eyebrow as he studied the contraption they were faced with.

It was a series of rings with five different basins close to the center of the circle. Some sort of combination, if he had to guess.

Nazir shared his thoughts. "Well, what in SIthis's name are we supposed to do now?" he questioned with a heavy sigh.

"Guess and check," Hainin responded, going over to one of the basins. He nudged it with the toe of his boot, and it moved slightly. "We have to move them to the right places," he said to the other two assassins.

"How are we supposed to know which is which?" Nazir asked.

Hainin continued to push the basin until it reached a place in the outer ring where it would no longer move. Immediately, a purplish flame burst up from the stones inside of it, and Hainin looked over at the Redguard.

"It does that," he said, gesturing to the flames.

Together, the three assassins moved the basins to their appropriate locations. As Nazir pushed the last one into place in the ring closest to the center, the ground began to shake. Hainin reached forward and grabbed Nazir's robe, pulling him backwards away from the pillar of stone that was rising from the ground where he'd previously been standing.

It rotated around to face them as Cicero pranced over to join them, and Hainin felt his eyes go wide at what was revealed as it completed its turn and came to a halt.

"A woman," Nazir said in amazement.

The woman was leaning against the side of the pillar, something closed in her hands, which were crossed over her chest. She fell forward, and Hainin hurriedly stepped up to catch her as she stumbled out of the pillar.

Her eyelids fluttered open, and Hainin almost dropped her when he saw their orange irises. Instead, he helped her to stand up straight as she let out a breath and eyed the three men standing before her.

"Where's…?" She blinked a few times and then changed her question. "Who sent you here?"

Hainin exchanged a glance with Nazir before straightening his shoulders. "Who were you expecting?" he queried.

"I was expecting someone like me, at least," the woman answered, studying each one of them as she spoke. Hainin stiffened as her eyes settled on him, afraid she knew that he was bitten and would say something, but she didn't. Instead, she said, "You know, a vampire?"

"Yes, we know what you are," Nazir answered. "You're lucky we're not Dawnguard. They would kill you without asking questions first."

"Hmm," the woman sniffed. "Not fond of vampires, are they?" She shook her head. "Well, look. Kill me, you've killed one vampire." She gestured to the Lokil. "But if people are after me, there's something bigger going on. I can help you find out what that is."

Hearing this, Hainin's hopes sparked, but only a bit. "You know something?" he asked, her, eyeing the scroll-like thing she was still holding in one hand.

"I don't, but my family might," the woman answered, noticing where his gaze lay. She slid the strap of the scroll across her shoulders so that it lay against her back like a bow. "They used to live on an island to the west of Solitude. I would guess they still do." She allowed a small grin. "By the way, my name is Serana. Good to meet you."

"Hainin," he answered, reaching out to shake her hand. When Serana merely looked at it, he pulled it back and gestured to his companions. "This is Nazir, and Cicero."

"Do you happen to have any idea as to how to get out of here?" Nazir questioned, glancing around the cavern.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Serana said with a shrug. "This place looks pretty different from when I was locked away."

"The vampire has an Elder Scroll," Cicero commented idly, and the three others looked at him in surprise.

"How do you know?" Hainin asked him.

"It was in a book!" Cicero said huffily, crossing his arms.

"I really need to get you out of the Sanctuary more often," Hainin sighed. He looked at Serana. "Is it an Elder Scroll?"

"Yes, and it's mine," she informed him shortly.

"Why do you have one?" he asked after a moment.

"It's… complicated," Serana responded after a moment. "I can't really talk about it, sorry."

Nazir and Hainin exchanged another brief glance before Hainin looked at the vampire again. "How long were you in there?"

"I… I don't know," she answered softly. "I can't tell. It feels like a long time." She paused, and then asked, "Who is Skyrim's High King?"

Hainin scoffed. "That's a bit of a debate worthy question, but from what I hear, Ulfric Stormcloak."

Serana's eyebrows came together. "I've never heard of him. Is he well supported?"

"Most of Skyrim supports him, yes," Nazir answered. "The Empire supports Jarl Elisif of Solitude."

"Empire? What… Empire?" Serana asked, baffled.

"The Empire. From Cyrodiil," Hainin replied slowly.

"Cyrodiil is the seat of an empire?" Serana let out a sigh. "I must have been gone longer than I thought, certainly longer than we planned." She shook her head to herself and met Hainin's eyes. "Please, we need to hurry. I need to get home so I can figure out what's happened."

"Hold on, I'm not done yet," Hainin said as she started to walk away from them. Serana stopped and faced him, and he raised an eyebrow. " _Why_ were you locked away?"

Serana frowned again, but not in confusion this time. "I'd rather not get into that with you, if that's all right," she said shortly.

"No, it's not," Hainin told her.

Serana stared at him for a moment, and then she lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry," she began. "It's not that…" She trailed off. "I don't know who I can trust just yet."

"Trust with what?" Nazir asked her, more gently than Hainin would have.

Instead of responding, Serana said, "Let's just get me to my home, so I'll have a better sense of where we stand."

"Fine," Hainin said after studying her for a moment. "Tell us about it."

"It's on an island near Solitude. Hopefully, we can find a boat to take us there. It's my family home. Not the most welcoming place, but depending on who's around, I'll be safe there."

"Why wouldn't you be safe in your own home?" Hainin asked.

"Let's just say that my mother and father had a bit of a falling out," Serana answered. "Don't worry, I'm not in any danger or anything like that. It'll just be more unpleasant to run into my father."

"He's the one that put you in here, then?" Hainin queried.

This time, Serana openly gave him a glare. "Can we just get out of here, please? I'll tell you what I can once I know more about what's going on."

Hainin wasn't happy, but Nazir's hand on his arm made him back down from asking anymore questions. Instead, he glanced around the cavern. "Let's find a way out of here," he said, heading for a set of stairs.

Two ugly statues sat on either side of the bottom, and he eyed one as the others went past him towards the top. "What is this thing?" he questioned.

"Looks like a gargoyle," Serana replied absently, and then the vampire stopped dead. "Hainin, get away from it," she advised, taking a step further up the stairs herself.

"Why? It's just a statue." As soon as he spoke, however, the stone began to crack and fall away. Hainin's eyes grew as he took a few steps backwards, away from the creature that had been lying in wait inside the stone.

It spread huge leathery wings similar to a dragon's outward and flapped them a few times, as though it was stretching. It then turned its ugly mug in Hainin's direction, and let out an earsplitting screech.

Behind him, Hainin heard the other statue beginning to crack and break, and he turned tail, sprinting up the stairs towards his companions.

"Run!" he shouted, waving his hands.

The others didn't need to ask twice. As a group, they ran towards the big hole in the wall, only to be face with a gate.

"Blast!" Nazir glanced around frantically as Hainin reached to pull his bow off of his back, his hands shaking as he struggled to take aim at one of the gargoyles. Before he could let his arrow fly, however, a bolt of blue ice struck the creature, causing it to fall to the ground with a heavy thud. Another bolt hit the second one, and it too fell to the ground, skidding to a halt directly in front of Hainin.

He glanced at Serana, who was lowering her still glowing hands.

"That's a neat trick," he commented.

"Thanks," she answered. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

 **Yay, Serana! Good to meet ya, beautiful. Let's go on an adventure together, shall we?**


	8. Everything Changes (Or Just Hainin)

**I don't own Elder Scrolls V. Just Hainin.**

* * *

After sneaking past the last of the Draugr that wanted to kill them, the party finally reemerged outside. The sky had clouded over, and it was starting to snow. Serana pulled up the hood on the back of her cloak, but breathed in deeply.

"Ah, it's so good to breathe again," she sighed. "Even in this weather, it's better than the cave."

Hainin didn't agree. He was already shivering. Nazir noticed and stepped closer to him. Hainin took in as much of the Redguard's warm body heat as he could before Nazir moved away again.

"Let's figure out where this island is so we can get back to the Dawnguard with the news," he said.

"Right," Hainin agreed, remembering once again that he was bitten and very well progressing towards becoming a vampire himself. If he didn't get a potion soon, he would turn fully, and then he'd be in a mess of trouble.

Nazir noticed the troubled look on his face as the group began to walk, and he nudged him with his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Hainin responded at once. "I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me."

Hainin let out a breath, and it turned into a puff of white air as soon as it left his mouth. "I'm not lying, Red," he said softly. "I'm all right."

Nazir didn't look convinced, but he didn't try to push for further information.

Hainin glanced down at the wrist that had been bitten. He could feel it throbbing beneath his glove, and he hoped with all his soul that the disease would hold off until they were able to reach Solitude.

The travel from Dimhollow to where Serana assured was a dock with a boat was a long one, lasting two days. The four of them went without speaking much, and Serana flinched every time the humans woke and pulled down the tent they had set up.

"I hate the sun," she commented once. "That was the one thing I didn't miss while I was in the ground."

Hainin worried more and more about his wound, as it wasn't closing and it wasn't giving him any peace of mind each time he looked at Nazir and was certain he could see the vein in his neck moving up and down in a pulse. More than once, his stomach rumbled at the sight of it, and he had to bite down on his tongue to remind himself that he was not allowed to think like that.

Serana noticed, however, that she was not the only one who cringed away from the sun each morning.

As they walked along a forest path deep into Haafingar, she fell to the rear of the group beside him, allowing Nazir and Cicero to go on ahead.

"You were bitten, weren't you?" she asked quietly.

Hainin knew there was no denying it, and so he nodded.

Serana glanced downwards. "Why haven't you said anything to your friends?"

"They'll worry about me, more than they should," Hainin answered. "I don't want to deal with it."

"You'll be dealing with a lot worse when you want to suck their life-blood out of their necks," Serana promised.

"I already do," Hainin muttered under his breath.

Serana sighed. "There's no stopping it, then," she said. "You're going to change."

"How do I change back?" Hainin asked helplessly.

Serana didn't respond, and he closed his eyes for a moment. "I should just tell them, then, is what you're saying."

"They deserve to know," she agreed softly. "I'm sorry this happened to you, Hainin."

"It was my own fault," he answered. "I should've been thinking, and I wasn't." He shook his head in disgust. "And now I'm paying for it."

Before Serana could say anything more, Nazir called to them: "There's a dock over here!"

"Let's get you home," Hainin said to the vampire beside him, and then quickened his pace to catch up to Nazir and Cicero. Nazir pointed through the trees, and Hainin let out a breath at what he saw. A small boat, rocking back and forth by the edge of a short wooden dock.

"Good," he said. "Let's get going."

The four of them headed through the trees to get to it, and Hainin stopped, studying its size.

"It won't carry all of us," he determined at last.

"That's it, though, out there," Serana said, nodding to the big building that looked oddly similar to a castle in the distance. "I knew the boat would still be here."

"Someone is going to have to stay behind," Hainin concluded, still eyeing the boat.

At once, Nazir turned to look at Cicero, who was already taking a seat on a nearby rock, picking up a few stones from the ground to throw into the water.

Pleased, the Redguard turned to the Listener. "That's decided, then."

"Fine," Hainin said. "Let's go."

The three climbed into the small boat, and Hainin and Nazir began to row together, in order to get them across the water towards Serana's home. Each pull sent a shock of pain up Hainin's wounded arm, and he struggled to keep from wincing as a cloud moved out of the way of the sun and a beam landed on his face.

Serana noticed, but she didn't say anything, for which Hainin was grateful.

After what seemed like ages, they reached the island the castle was built on. It was indeed a castle, and as Nazir helped Serana from the boat, Hainin blinked at its size.

"You live _here_?" he finally asked her.

"Yes," she answered, and then looked at Nazir. "I think it's best if you wait here," she advised. "The guards probably won't take kindly to Hainin; I can only imagine what they'll think if I bring you up there as well."

Nazir glanced at Hainin, who nodded his agreement. The Redguard sighed, but retook his seat in the boat. "All right," he said. "I'll wait here for you, Hay."

"C'mon," Hainin said to Serana, and the two of them walked up over the big stone bridge towards the castle's front entrance. Before they could get too close, however, Serana grabbed Hainin's uninjured arm.

"Hey, before we go in there," she began, glancing past him towards the castle.

"What is it?" Hainin asked her.

"I wanted to thank you for getting me this far. After we get in there, I'm going to go my own way for a while. I think." She lifted her shoulders. "I know your friends the Dawnguard would probably want to kill everything in there. I'm hoping you can show some more control than that."

Hainin grimaced. "Well, considering I'm going to presently turn into one of the things in there, I think I'll manage," he allowed.

Serana gave him a sad grin. "Once we're inside, keep quiet for a bit," she said. "Let me take the lead."

"Fine," Hainin answered. "I'm a better listener, anyhow."

Serana walked past him towards the castle, and Hainin followed close behind. They reached a barred off entrance, and the watchman behind the gate immediately said, "Go on, get out of –" He stopped when Serana lowered the hood she was wearing, and fell to one knee. "Princess Serana, my lady, I – I have not seen you in –"

"Open the gate, please," Serana said, cutting him off.

"Of course," he answered, scrambling back to his feet. "Right away." He eyed Hainin as he pulled a lever, and the gate rose.

Serana walked through the big doors before them, and the watchman gave Hainin a glare. "Lord Harkon's a great man," he said stiffly. "Best show him proper respect."

 _I will, if he deserves it,_ Hainin thought sourly before following Serana into the castle.

The doors opened into an entrance hall. A High Elf vampire was leaning against the far wall, and he straightened up at their entrance. "How dare you trespass here –" He trailed off when he recognized Serana. "Wait… Serana? Is that truly you? I cannot believe my eyes!"

Serana said nothing, and the Altmer walked away towards the other opening of the entrance hall. Hainin and Serana went after him, and Hainin flinched at what he found waiting on the other side.

A staircase led into a throne room that had two long wooden tables on either side of it. Utop the tables were bowls of blood, with vampires of all shapes and sizes sitting down in front of them. Chained to the wall were several humans, looking pale and skinny.

What disgusted Hainin the most, however, was the fact that he wanted to join the vampires sitting at the table, pick up a bowl of that red delicacy, and swallow it all down in a single gulp.

The Altmer was waving his arms to grab the vampires' attentions. "My lord! Everyone! Serana has returned!"

Immediately, the cheerful discussions of the dining vampires halted, and all their orange gazes lifted to look at Hainin and Serana. All at once, they began murmuring to one another. Hainin glanced at the female next to him, and saw Serana let out a breath before she began to head down the stairs.

Hainin followed her lead, and walked down the center of the tables, swallowing thickly as he passed by them. Serana headed towards a man with dark hair standing at the end of the hall, and stopped a few steps away from him, her body turned to the side.

Hainin could see the resemblance between the two immediately. This must be her father.

"My long-lost daughter returns at last," he began, holding out his arms. "I trust you have my Elder Scroll?"

This man definitely wasn't the loving father that Hainin had imagined would greet the daughter he had lost before the formation of the Empire. Not that he'd really expected any sort of vampire to be loving, but… still. He got right down to business.

"After all these years, that's the first thing you ask me?" Serana queried, exasperated. "Yes, I have the Scroll."

Her words brought about more bouts of surprise from the seated vampires, and the man's eyes flashed. "Of course I'm delighted to see you, my daughter. Must I really say the words aloud?"

Serana stared at him silently, and the man stroked his chin. "Ah, if only your traitor mother were here, I would let her watch this reunion before putting her head on a spike."

The last word was spat out, and Hainin took a step backwards away from the vampire. He was definitely not a loving man.

The vampire's eyes turned to Hainin. "Now, tell me," he began, his voice settling into a purr. "Who is this stranger you have brought into our hall?"

Hainin hated to admit it, but he partially found the man attractive. It was mostly the voice, and the commanding presence, he decided after staring at him for a moment longer.

"This is my savior, the one who freed me," Serana explained, glancing at Hainin.

Hainin managed a small grin, and lifted his hand in greeting. "Name's Hainin. Nice to meet you."

"Lord Harkon," the vampire responded smoothly. "For my daughter's safe return, you have my gratitude. By now, you must know what we are, and I can see you are fairly close to becoming one yourself."

 _Sithis, is it an inborn ability vampires have to know when someone else is becoming one?_

"Yes, you're vampires, and I guess I'm turning into one, too," Hainin answered.

"Not just vampires," Harkon said. "We are among the oldest and most powerful vampires in Skyrim. For centuries we've lived here, far from the cares of the world. All that ended when my wife betrayed me and stole away that which I valued most."

"Your wife stole her own daughter from you?" Hainin asked in surprise.

"Unfortunately, yes," Harkon answered. "However, you have returned her to me, and for that, you must be rewarded. There is only one reward that I can give you, but it appears you are already on your way to receiving it."

Hainin's fists clenched, and his lowered his gaze to the ground. "I don't suppose you would be willing to assist me in stopping the turn, then?" he asked stiffly.

"Why would you want to stop it?" Harkon asked him. "As one of us, you will walk as a lion amongst sheep. Men will tremble at your approach. You shall never fear death again."

Hainin glanced upwards, a sharp remark on the edge of his tongue. "Really? Because, from what I saw while I was in Dimhollow Crypt, your kind die rather easily at the hand of a simple dagger."

A few of the vampires let out gasps of astonishment at his words, and Harkon's eyes narrowed. Serana stepped forward and rested her hand on Hainin's arm. "Perhaps it's best if you leave, now," she said quietly.

"Yes, I think my daughter is right," Harkon agreed, tilting his head. "Good luck in your transformation, Hainin. I think you will find what waits on the other side to be quite… miraculous."

"I'm sure I won't," Hainin replied sourly. He then turned on his heel and stalked out of the castle. He couldn't believe it. All of this, and he wouldn't be rewarded with anything but his own death. At least, the death of his mortal self.

He didn't want to be a vampire. He didn't want to stop them, either. He just wanted to return to the Dawnstar Sanctuary with Cicero and Nazir. As he stepped into the cold air outside and hurried over the bridge towards where Nazir was waiting, he was trying to figure out how he would tell the Redguard that he was going to turn into a vampire as soon as the following day.

When he saw Nazir sitting in the boat, however, he knew that the only choice was to just outright say it. Nazir looked up as he approached, and immediately, his eyebrows drew together. "What's wrong?"

"Red, I have to tell you something," Hainin began quietly. He looked down at the ground, and immediately, his vision began to blur. He blinked a few times to help himself focus, and wobbled on his feet as he lifted his eyes back to Nazir. "I… I have… Sithis, my head hurts."

"Hay? Are you all right?" In response, Hainin merely stumbled forward into the boat with a moan, unconscious. Nazir quickly rolled him onto his back and shook his shoulders. "Hainin? Hainin, wake up!"

Hainin's only reply was a small groan, and Nazir gave him a quick slap across the cheek. The Listener did not stir, and the Redguard's heart began to slow as he realized what was happening.

Slowly, he reached down and peeled off the glove on Hainin's right hand, his eyes closing as soon as he saw what was underneath.

"Oh, Hainin," he sighed softly. "What did you do?"

* * *

 **Don't worry, Nazir. It'll all be okay. I think.**


	9. The Blood Lust

**I don't own Elder Scrolls V. Just Hainin.**

* * *

Hainin wasn't aware of anything but darkness tinged by red. The red would grow thicker on occasion, but mostly, it was just darkness.

And pain.

Oh, there was pain, a fire that started from his very core and spread out to all parts of his body. Hainin was certain he screamed, and yet he was certain he remained silent as well.

Only one thing was for sure, and that was the pain.

When he finally emerged from the terror that was darkness and red and pain and screaming without making noise, he found himself in a familiar place.

Surprised, he struggled to sit up, but found he couldn't. He turned his head to see that his wrists were bound together and tied to the headboard of his bed in the Dawnstar Sanctuary.

"Well." At least, that was what he tried to say. What came out was nothing, and he came to the conclusion that he was thirsty.

But… not for water.

"Sithis's blood," he managed, this time actual words coming out.

He dropped his head back against the pillow and pulled against his bounds.

He was hungry, and thirsty, and he could smell exactly what he wanted. Very close.

"Hainin?" He stopped pulling on the restraints as Babette poked her head into the room. When she saw he was awake, she stepped fully into the bedroom. "I need you to calm down."

"I am calm," Hainin whispered. "Babette -"

"I know, it hurts," she agreed, "and we'll take care of it, but I need you to promise me that you'll only take what you need."

Hainin couldn't exactly promise that, especially with how badly his throat was burning at that moment, but he didn't know what Babette would do if he didn't say something, so he managed, "I don't know how much I'll take, but I'll try."

Babette frowned, and shook her head. "Then you'll have to wait a little bit longer, Hainin."

"I need it now," he insisted.

"I know you do, but it's too dangerous to let you take some from one of our own," Babette explained. "You might kill them. We'll need to get you someone else. Cicero's out looking right now."

Hainin gazed at her helplessly, and Babette bowed her head. "Hold on a little bit longer," she said quietly.

Hainin lowered his head again with a groan. His throat was on fire; he needed blood. Now.

"Babette…" He lifted his head as a delicious smell flooded his senses, and saw Nazir standing behind the vampire child. Babette's eyes grew, and she turned around, putting her hands on his chest.

"You need to get out of here," she whispered harshly, pushing him backwards.

"He needs blood," Nazir said in response, eyeing Hainin from over her head.

Hainin pulled against his restraints, unable to help himself. Nazir was standing steps away, blood flowing through his veins. Exactly what Hainin needed, what he wanted. He had to get to it.

"Nazir, he's been asleep and changing for two days," Babette warned. "This will be his first time drinking blood, and he might not be able to stop."

"He'll stop," Nazir informed. "I trust him."

Babette gazed up at the Redguard for a moment. "You could die, Nazir," she said softly. "He can wait."

Nazir once again looked at Hainin, and the Listener met his eyes. Nazir cringed away from the new orange color that had taken the place of the green he'd come to love, and returned his gaze to Babette.

"I can't leave him like that," he said decisively.

He slid past the vampire standing in front of him and walked slowly towards the one that was bound to the bed. Hainin twisted against his restraints as Nazir drew closer, and the Redguard stopped a step away from him.

"Hainin, I'm trusting you," he said gently.

Hainin did nothing other than pull on his bounds and look up at him.

Nazir closed his eyes for a moment. He'd only done this once before, when the Dark Brotherhood had been getting settled at the Dawnstar Sanctuary, and Babette hadn't had any blood for almost a week.

Then again, Babette had been a vampire for years. Hainin had just woken up from his transformation. Even if Nazir had trusted human Hainin with his life, did he trust vampire Hainin?

When he opened his eyes again, however, and looked down at Hainin, Nazir had no choice. The Listener looked so… scared. And desperate. Nazir hated seeing him like that.

And, so, with only a small sense of uncertainty, he walked the rest of the space that remained between the two of them, and offered Hainin his wrist.

Hainin leaned over and closed his mouth around it. Nazir winced when he felt Hainin's newly sharpened teeth sink into his skin, and Hainin's eyes shut in contentment as he tasted Nazir's blood for the first time. As he tasted _blood_ for the first time.

It was like drinking water after not having any during a long day of traveling. It was like sitting down to a warm bowl of stew after being outside in the snow all afternoon. In other words, it was one of the best experiences Hainin had ever taken part in, and he hated it.

He was sucking Nazir's _blood_ out of him. His life source. And Nazir was letting him do it willingly. It was disgusting. This was part of the main reason why Hainin had wanted to get rid of the vampires in the first place, aside from the fact that they were taking away possible clients from the Dark Brotherhood.

Hainin was an assassin, yes. He killed people for money. Sucking out someone's blood in this way was a way of killing, to be sure, but it was the worst, most despicable way. He would never do this again, not in this way. He couldn't.

And yet… Gods above, it tasted so good. Hainin couldn't bring himself to stop, even though he wanted too. He wanted to… to keep drinking.

He could faintly hear Babette's voice, asking him to stop. Hainin needed to stop. He did. Nazir needed him to stop. He had to stop. Had to –

His thought was cut off when his head was abruptly pulled away from Nazir's wrist. The Redguard staggered backwards a few paces, holding his arm with his opposite hand. Hainin licked his lips and pulled out of Babette's grasp. He took in her frightened expression, and then Nazir's disbelieving one, and he realized what he'd done.

"Red, I'm so sorry -"

Nazir shook his head and left Hainin's bedroom without a word. Hainin watched him go, and closed his eyes. "Dammit."

"I knew I should have stopped him," Babette muttered to herself. Hainin opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her. "He's going to regret this now, for a long time."

" _I_ regret this," Hainin agreed with a sigh. "I shouldn't have done that."

"No, you shouldn't have," Babette replied. She shook her head. "There's no helping it, though. You're full, right?"

Hainin was, and he was thankful. His throat no longer burned as terribly as it had, though there was still an unsatisfied sting as he swallowed.

Babette noticed, and she nodded. "That'll always be there. It reminds you that there's no escaping it."

"No escaping it…?" Hainin wasn't really listening anymore. His attention had been drawn to that small sense of fire still in his throat, and he couldn't stop thinking about it. Was Babette right? Was it always going to stay there? Hainin didn't think he could handle that.

"No escaping the drinking," Babette explained. "No escaping this." She gestured to her eyes, to her teeth. "It's been done, and that's the end of it. You're stuck like this."

Hainin blinked at that, and was able to turn his attention back to her. "That's that," he concluded.

Babette nodded, and Hainin let out a pained breath. "Can I go apologize?" he asked her.

Babette glanced him over. "Are you going to kill everyone?" she queried, only a small bit of teasing in her voice.

Hainin wasn't in the mood, and so he merely looked at her without speaking. In response to his look, Babette reached over and snapped the leather holding his wrists to the bedpost with her fingernail.

"Go," she said as Hainin sat up, rubbing his wrists. "If he doesn't want to talk, don't make him."

Hainin nodded in understanding, and slowly slid off of his bed and walked out into the hallway. He knew where Nazir was; some kind of vampire thing, for sure. He slid into the bedroom that the Redguard shared with Babette and looked him over.

"Red?"

Nazir didn't look up from his work; he was wrapping a bandage around his wrist. Hainin flinched when he noticed this, and he looked down at the floor. "I'm so sorry, Red. I… I knew I had to stop, but I… I couldn't…"

"I know," Nazir said shortly. "This is more my fault than it is yours, Hainin. I shouldn't have let you."

"No, but you trusted me, and I didn't…" Hainin let out a breath, not sure where he was going with any of this. "I just… I'm sorry, and you don't need to worry about me wanting to do that again, all right?"

Even as he said it, though, he could taste Nazir's blood on his tongue, and his mouth began to water. He swallowed down the saliva and managed a weak smile. "You're not mad, right?"

Nazir shook his head. "No, of course not." He finished wrapping his wound and looked up, frowning as soon as he met Hainin's gaze. Hainin furrowed his eyebrows, and Nazir shrugged. "I miss your green eyes, that's all."

"I miss my green eyes, too," Hainin told him softly. He glanced towards the looking glass that hung over one of the dressers, and swallowed before stepping closer. He cringed as soon as he looked at his reflection. "Sithis's blood, I look awful."

He had paled considerably, and the orange irises stood out abruptly against his white skin. He silently pulled on the hood of his armor and covered his mouth with the scarf. The only thing that showed was his eyes, and Hainin closed them in frustration before pulling down the scarf.

"I hate this!" he exclaimed, yanking off the hood as well. "My throat burns, my eyes are the color of fire… I'm not _myself_ anymore!"

He opened his eyes when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and saw Nazir had risen off of his bed to stand behind him.

"We're going to take care of this," the Redguard promised. "There has to be a way."

"We shouldn't even have to worry about it," Hainin muttered to himself. "This is my fault. All of it."

"Hainin -"

"I know, I know," the Imperial sighed, dropping his head. "If I hadn't made you drink the first potion, we'd be just fine. But you know what? I did. And it's because… because I was worried about you. So you can save the accusations, all right? I know what I did was pointless, and now I'm dealing with the repercussions."

Nazir stepped closer and turned Hainin's head with his hand on his cheek. Quickly, he pressed a kiss against Hainin's lips, and then leaned backwards, leaving his hand where it was.

"You saved me, and now I have to save you," Nazir said softly. "That's just how it's going to be. I'm sure there's a way to reverse this."

Hainin gaped at him in surprise. "You kissed me. In the Sanctuary."

Nazir shrugged, starting to grin. "It's not the first time."

"Well, no, but the one other time it happened we were both drunk," Hainin retorted. "What's going on?"

Nazir's grin disappeared, and he glanced downwards. "I uh… I may have enjoyed the… interaction we just had," he said quietly.

Interaction? _Oh_. **_Oh_**.

Hainin blinked at him. "You... _liked_ that?" he asked disbelievingly.

Nazir nodded, rubbing at his neck. "I don't know why. It just... something stirred." He glanced up at Hainin, sighing when he met the orange eyes of his friend. "I don't need you to be a vampire to stir things, though. You did that enough on your own, without sucking my blood."

Hainin couldn't help himself. He grabbed Nazir's robe and pulled his lips to his own. Nazir responded to the kiss willingly, much to Hainin's delight. He found himself being backed up into a wall, and when he hit it, he moved his hands down to Nazir's waist and tugged his hips closer. Nazir let out a quiet grunt through the kiss, and Hainin grinned against his mouth.

"You, my friend, have no chance of fighting me now," Hainin told him. He wrapped a leg around Nazir's and yanked him impossibly closer, his fingers closing around the fabric on the back of Nazir's robe.

"Don't know why I fought you before," Nazir admitted, his tone breathy.

Hainin refrained from nuzzling against the Redguard's neck, no matter how much he wanted to at that moment, and went back to kissing him instead. Nazir had never tasted as good as he did just then, and he wanted more, more, _more_.

With speed he didn't know he had (oh right, vampire now) he flipped the positions so that Nazir was the one pressed up to the wall. Hainin pressed his hips against the Redguard's, and Nazir slipped a hand around Hainin's lower back in response. His teeth tugged on Hainin's bottom lip, and the Listener let out a feral growl at the sensation it sent through his groin.

"Not fair," he scolded, leaning his head back. "No teeth from me, no teeth from you."

"Who said anything about no teeth?"

Hainin frowned, not as enticed by Nazir's words as he thought he would be. He took a step away from the Redguard, who looked at him in confusion.

"What is it?" Nazir asked.

"I'm a vampire," Hainin whispered. "You're... you're doing this now because I'm a vampire and I sucked your blood. Has to be it."

"Hainin, no," Nazir started.

"Are you positive?"

"Yes," Nazir answered earnestly. He stepped forward and placed his hand on the back of Hainin's neck, pulling him down a bit so that he could kiss him. "I don't know, Hay," he began under his breath, "but something about you is just…" He trailed off when he met Hainin's eyes. "I do want you to be human again. Don't doubt that, ever."

Hainin pulled away and gazed at Nazir. "You really think I _could_ be a human again?" he asked softly.

Nazir nodded. "I do, and I'm going to do everything I can to make it happen."

Hainin stared at him a moment longer, and then managed a grin. "All right," he said. "Guess we need to start researching, don't we?"

He started to walk away from Nazir, but was halted when the Redguard grabbed the back of his armor. "What about the Dawnguard?" Nazir queried.

Hainin let out a breath. _Right_.

"Well… I can't go see them," he said quietly. "They'll kill me where I stand."

Nazir nodded in understanding. "We cannot risk that," he said. He was the one to walk away this time, and he paced across the room. "I can go alone, if you like."

"No," Hainin said immediately, going over to where the Redguard had stopped. He placed his hands on Nazir's shoulders and shook his head. "You will not travel alone. I may not be able to go to converse with the Dawnguard, but I can travel with you, and you can go see them. Besides, you're a better speaker, anyhow."

Nazir actually smiled at that, and nodded. "Fair enough." He then frowned. "But… you? Traveling in daylight? Doesn't it hurt?"

Hainin flinched at the reminder of how hot the sun had felt on his skin, even blocked by heavy clouds, on the days prior to his complete transformation. He could only imagine what it would feel like now.

Suddenly, he didn't want to travel with Nazir as much as he had two minutes before.

Nazir could tell, and he shook his head. "I won't make you travel with me if it is going to harm you."

"I don't know about _harm_ ," Hainin admitted. "It's just… bothersome. An annoyance."

"Maybe it was during the change," Nazir said. "What about now that you're a full-fledged vampire?" He sighed. "And it isn't even just the sun. There are people who wouldn't even question killing you as soon as they saw you have orange eyes."

"They wouldn't have a chance to kill me," Hainin said, frowning.

"I know that," Nazir agreed, "but do you really want to kill someone who is only wanting to protect their home from a creature we were originally setting out to remove from existence? Because you're one of them now, Hay."

Hainin knew that Nazir was right. He was a vampire, and he would be dealt with by normal people as they would treat a vampire. He did not want to have to kill someone who only wanted to protect their family, since that was what he had been wanting to do before, and what he still wanted to do.

He tilted his head. "I'm starting to wonder if you _want_ to travel alone," he said to Nazir.

"If it's safer for you -"

"But is it safer for you? Red, I don't want anything happening to you because I'm not there."

"I think that I'm at more of a risk if you are there," Nazir responded. Hainin frowned, and Nazir placed a hand on the back of his neck, pulling Hainin's forehead down to meet his. "Hainin, it's best if I go alone. I know that you would prefer to come with me, but it's safer for the both of us if you remain here."

Hainin closed his eyes. Nazir was right. Of course he was. He just hated it.

"I know," he murmured. "I just wish that -"

Nazir silenced him by placing a kiss on his lips. He then met Hainin's eyes, and grinned. "You hate it when I'm right."

"I do," Hainin admitted. "But you always are, so…" Nazir chuckled, and Hainin cupped his cheek in one hand. "When will you leave?"

"Sooner rather than later," Nazir answered. "It will take several days to get there." He groaned. "I hate traveling."

"I know you do," Hainin said, smiling.

"What I wouldn't give for one of the Dragonborn's mounts," the Redguard sighed.

"You know she only has one, and it's a myth as to whether or not she actually rode it to her wedding."

"Even so, she rode it to Skuldafn. If she wanted to offer to let me ride it to and from Dayspring Canyon, I would not argue." Nazir reached forward and took Hainin's chin in one hand. Hainin met the Redguard's dark eyes, and Nazir sighed. "Please, tell me you and Babette will do whatever you can to find out how to fix this."

Hainin nodded immediately. "Yes. If we're lucky, I'll be cured before you get back," he said.

"Good." Nazir let Hainin's chin go, and glanced around the room. "Suppose I will set out tomorrow."

"Take Cicero with you," Hainin said quickly, and Nazir looked at him. The Listener rubbed the back of his neck. "Just to be safe."

Nazir chuckled. "Fine. He'll be useful on the trip there. But he is not coming into Fort Dawnguard with me."

"I was going to suggest that, too," Hainin admitted. Nazir shook his head and gestured for Hainin to leave the room.

"Come on," he said. "Cicero should be back soon."

Hainin nodded, and trailed after Nazir out of the bedroom. He watched Nazir's back as they walked out of the living quarter hall and into the main room. He didn't want to focus on the Redguard's neck, out of fear that he would not be able to resist. The burn in his throat seemed to be getting worse every minute.

Thankfully. Cicero was just dragging a fellow in leather armor into the Sanctuary as Hainin and Nazir exited the hallway. The young man had something tied over his eyes, and he was fighting against Cicero's grasp on his arm.

Nazir darted forward to help the jester while Hainin gaped at the man's face. His mouth watered when he saw a thin line of blood running out down from a scratch on his forehead, to his cheek, and the hollow of his neck.

Hainin wanted that blood. He wanted it right then.

He started to move towards the captive that was now struggling to get away from both Nazir and Cicero. A small hand grabbed his arm before he could get too close. Snarling quietly, he turned and saw Babette standing behind him, shaking her head.

"Wait until he's in the torture room, Hainin," she said. "We don't want blood all over the floor up here."

Hainin growled, but bowed his head submissively. Babette nodded to Nazir and Cicero. Together, the two assassin's dragged a now verbally protesting captive towards the torture room. Hainin followed the sounds of them moving with his newly established super-hearing, licking his lips all the while.

One minute passed. And then two.

Babette let his wrist go. Hainin sprinted away from her and towards the torture room.

When he skidded to a halt outside, Cicero and Nazir were re-emerging. Some of the captive's blood had gotten onto Cicero's hand, and the jester sniffed it before shaking his head.

"Smells good, don't think it tastes good," he said to Nazir, who was watching Hainin approach the partially closed torture room door. The Listener was prowling like a sabercat, his shoulders hunched and his eyes flashing.

Nazir blinked when Hainin suddenly darted through the opening of the door, and then there were screams from the other side.

The Redguard didn't wince, although he sort of wanted to.

"Come on," he said to Cicero. The jester didn't seem bothered by the screaming, and he bounced back down the hall, humming to himself.

Nazir lingered a moment, listening. The screams had already faded, and he couldn't hear anything else. On the other side of the door, however, he knew that Hainin was feasting, and it made him slightly ill.

Shaking it off, he followed after Cicero back to the main room of the Sanctuary. Babette sat at the table, and she glanced up with Nazir emerged from the hallway.

"Are you feeling all right?" she asked him as Nazir sank down into a chair opposite from her.

He nodded, glancing down at his wrapped wrist. "I'm more annoyed that I have to travel back to the Rift so soon," he admitted.

"Well, you can't leave the Dawnguard waiting," Babette said simply. "There's still the matter of the vampires having an Elder Scroll to deal with."

Nazir looked at her. "What could they have wanted it for, so much so that they hid it underground so that no one else could find it?"

"I don't know," Babette answered with a shrug. "I can't imagine it to be anything good. Perhaps the Dawnguard know."

Nazir wasn't sure. "Perhaps." He glanced towards the hall that led to the torture room. "Help him adjust, and change back, if you can. Please."

Babette nodded. "I'm going to do my best," she stated. "There must be some kind of cure. We just need to research it."

"Cicero's books could be useful," the jester called down from the upper floor, peeking over the wall. "He has some on vampires."

"Great start," Nazir replied. "Thank you, Cicero." Cicero beamed, and disappeared again. Nazir turned to Babette. "He'll be all right with you, yes?"

"I'll take care of him," she promised. There was a sound from downstairs, and then Hainin was coming down the hallway, wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand. Babette noticed Nazir's change of composure as he watched the Listener, and she frowned to herself.

"Cicero!" Hainin called. The jester peered over the upper floor wall again, and Hainin waved at him. "Thank you."

"Of course," Cicero answered, and then he disappeared again.

"Feel better?" Babette asked Hainin, and he glanced at Nazir once before nodding.

"Yes," he said. "How long -?"

"Couple of hours," Babette responded. "You'll know."

Hainin nodded again, and Nazir let out his breath.

"I'm going to go start packing," he said. He then turned and walked away from the two vampires back towards his bedroom. Hainin watched him go, and then sighed to himself and glanced at Babette.

"Lock me in my room tonight," he said to her.

"Already planning on it," she replied, turning and heading for the stairs.

Hainin nodded to himself. "Good." He watched Babette disappear onto the upper floor, and then he turned and went in the direction Nazir had gone.

He found the Redguard sitting on the edge of his stone bed, looking down at his bandaged wrist. Hainin immediately felt a stab of guilt, and he started to regret following Nazir to his room. Before he could turn and leave, however, Nazir glanced up.

"I'm sorry," Hainin said softly. "I really am."

"I already told you I'm fine," Nazir responded with a sigh. "I should have expected it. It wasn't your fault, Hainin."

"It was," Hainin insisted. "I shouldn't have…" He trailed off and looked down at the floor. "We'll have to be careful."

Nazir gazed at the Listener for a moment, and then he stood and crossed the room to reach him. When he had, he took Hainin's hand and pulled him into the room fully, before closing the door. Hainin gazed at him in confusion as Nazir took a step back and held out his arms.

"What?" the Imperial asked, frowning.

"Do you want to suck my blood?" Nazir inquired. Hainin blinked, and Nazir spun around in a circle, keeping his arms out. "Do you?"

"No," Hainin said after a moment, "but I just ate an entire bandit."

"Even so, it's a good thing you don't want too," Nazir said, lowering his arms. He took a pace forward. "If you start to get thirsty, you should remember how you feel about sucking my blood right now." The Redguard shrugged. "Maybe you won't want to, even if you're starving."

Hainin allowed a laugh. "I doubt that's how it works, Red."

"We can hope, right?" Nazir closed the remaining space between the two of them and let his hands rest on Hainin's waist. "Besides, I'm willing to let you… borrow my blood every once in awhile," he said, smirking.

"Borrow?" Hainin shook his head and pulled away from Nazir, starting to walk towards the door. "I don't want you thinking like that."

"Hey." Nazir reached forward and grabbed Hainin's wrist. Hainin tore it away from him and backed up against the closed door, his eyes flashing.

"I don't want to hurt you!" he exclaimed.

Nazir seemed taken aback, and Hainin swallowed and turned his gaze away. "Please, Red," he whispered. "Don't make this harder."

"I'm not trying to," Nazir said, his voice low. "I just want you to know that you don't have to do this alone."

"I do, though," Hainin told him, "because I don't want you in danger."

The Redguard stared at the Listener for a moment, and then he managed a small grin. "Hay, I'm an assassin," he said. "I live for danger." Hainin didn't seem to get the irony Nazir was trying to share with him. Nazir exhaled. "I'm here for you, Hainin. Just remember that, all right?" He gestured towards his traveling pack. "Do you want to help make sure I have everything Cicero and I will need?"

Hainin hesitated a moment, and then he took a step forward, away from the door. "You'll need all of the cure disease potions Babette can make," he said, a small tone of joking audible in his voice.

Nazir chuckled. "That's a good idea."

* * *

 **Okay! I think this is the part I was at when I deleted the first draft a few months ago.**

 **Which means that next chapter is totally fresh content! Hell yeah!**

 **Also, you know you're in too damn deep when you create a time line for events that occurred with your Skyrim characters.**

 **I like to be as accurate as possible. Judge me.**


	10. Research and Talks

**I don't own Elder Scrolls V. Just Hainin.**

* * *

The following morning, Hainin was wide awake and wanting out of his room. He had known that vampires didn't sleep, but he hadn't expected being awake all night to be so boring. Even Babette hadn't been able to alleviate his boredom. She had disappeared sometime around one in the morning, and he hadn't known where she went. He assumed, however, that she had gone hunting. He sort of felt bad that he hadn't been invited, but not too bad.

Anyhow, as soon as he was sure the sun was rising, he knocked on his bedroom door to be let out. Babette and Cicero had pushed something in front of his door when he had gone in there the night before, and he needed someone to push it out of the way for him.

The person who freed him was the last person he wanted to see, and he sighed to himself when Nazir opened the door.

"Morning, Red," he greeted, turning away.

"How was your first night?" Nazir asked him.

"Terrible," Hainin admitted, crossing his arms. The pain in his throat, which he had been ignoring for the last two hours, was now burning like dragon's fire. He swallowed. "Are you leaving?"

Nazir nodded. "As soon as we get some breakfast in our bellies." The Redguard tilted his head. "Are you all right?"

"Well… I'm hungry, too, to put it lightly," Hainin answered.

"Oh." Nazir glanced down at his wrist. He had taken the bandage off when he had woken up, since there hadn't been any blood on it, and he saw that the bite marks had closed overnight.

He looked at Hainin again, and watched the Listener reach up and rub his neck. "I don't know -"

"It's all right," Hainin said quickly. "I'll go find something after you leave."

"Hainin." The Imperial exhaled, and glanced at Nazir. "Don't torture yourself." He offered Hainin the wrist that hadn't been used the day before. "Come on."

Hainin was already shaking his head. "I don't want to do that to you again," he said softly.

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you," Nazir said simply, not putting his arm back down. "If it gets to a point where you have to stop, but you won't, I'll stab you."

Hainin's eyes flashed with something that Nazir thought was amusement, but he couldn't be sure. The Listener gazed at Nazir for a moment longer, and then he looked down at his proffered wrist.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes," Nazir answered. "Remember, I trust you."

Hainin let out a short snort. "You said that yesterday."

"And I still mean it," Nazir promised. "I hate seeing you like this, and it's only going to get worse. Let me help you."

Hainin glanced up and met his eyes. "If anything happens…"

"It's my fault, I know," Nazir answered, smiling a bit. "You're just going to need more the longer you argue."

"Fine." Hainin took Nazir's arm and brought his wrist up to his mouth. Before doing anything, he placed a gentle kiss against it, looking at Nazir as he did so. The Redguard inhaled, and then nodded.

Hainin sank his teeth into Nazir's wrist, his eyes closing when the red hot deliciousness that was Nazir's blood hit his tongue.

The Redguard swallowed, watching Hainin's face as the Listener sucked down his blood. He didn't really feel anything, excluding the fire that was starting low in his stomach that he recognized as a feeling he was used to getting from Hainin. Because he didn't feel pain, he didn't know when he had to stop Hainin, and so he sort of just stood there and let the Imperial drink, doing his best to ignore the fire down below.

It was a surprise when Hainin opened his eyes and pulled his mouth off of Nazir's wrist. The Redguard watched as Hainin blinked a few times, and then he smiled slightly when the Listener kissed his wrist again.

"See?" Nazir asked. "That wasn't so bad."

Hainin shook his head, staring down at Nazir's wrist. "Does it hurt?" he queried.

"Not at all," Nazir responded.

"That's good." Hainin kissed his wrist one last time, and then let it go. Nazir drew it to him and studied the marks from Hainin's teeth. They weren't bleeding like the ones from the night before. Nazir lifted an eyebrow.

"What did you do differently?" he asked, looking at Hainin again.

The Listener shrugged. "Don't know."

Nazir decided that it didn't matter. He stepped towards Hainin and placed an arm around his waist, pulling him closer. Hainin grinned a bit through the kiss Nazir caught him in. When the Redguard pulled away, Hainin laughed at him.

"What?" Nazir asked.

"Nothing. I'm going to miss you, that's all."

Nazir sighed. "I'm going to miss you, too," he admitted. "I would like for your eyes to be back to normal by the time I return."

Hainin managed a smile. "I'll do my best."

"Good."

Nazir and Cicero ate breakfast with the other human assassins in the Sanctuary, and then they said their goodbyes. Hainin couldn't believe it when Nazir kissed him on the mouth in front of everyone, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"We'll be back soon," Nazir said, pulling away.

Hainin simply nodded. The Redguard then turned and headed after Cicero into the secret passage. Hainin watched the two go until he could no longer see them, and then he closed the stained glass door, sighing to himself.

When he turned around to face the table, Babette was already sitting down, a pile of books in front of her.

"What are those?" Hainin asked, going over to where she sat.

"Cicero has quite a collection on our kind," Babette replied. "I figured we could start looking for a cure."

Hainin shook his head. "Not our kind."

"Fine, fine," Babette said, rolling her eyes. "My kind, whatever." She opened the first book on the stack. "Hmm…"

"So, do you want me to help?" Hainin asked, sliding into a chair beside hers.

"Yes," Babette replied. She nudged the stack of books towards him with her elbow. "Start looking for anything that might help us cure you."

Hainin obediently pulled a book off the stack and flipped it open. Silence fell over the two vampires as they began to read through the books.

Hainin had always liked to read. Stories about valiant heroes had always been his favorites, because he had never thought he could be one. He read about them instead. He'd always wondered, too, why they won a fair maiden in the end, rather than a strapping male like themselves.

He knew why he'd wondered that, now.

Babette seemed more intent on finding what she was looking for than Hainin. While he was content to simply read, Babette had a task she wanted to complete. Hainin could feel her frustration thickening like smoke in the room every time she would slam a book shut and grab for another one.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when Babette finally let out a long groan and pushed her chair away from the table. It scraped along the stone floor, making Hainin wince from the noise.

"There's nothing," Babette sighed, hanging her head in her hands.

"Sure there is," Hainin insisted, closing his own book. "We can't give up now."

"Hainin, we've been reading for a whole day," Babette told him.

Hainin blinked at her. "No we haven't." She nodded, and he blinked again. He focused on the burn in his throat, which was sure to tell him how much time had passed. He found that it barely hurt. "But I'm not hungry."

"You're hunger stays pretty tame if you don't go outside," Babette answered tiredly, rubbing at her eyes. "The sun does something that makes it worse." She exhaled and looked at him. "I know that you want to change yourself, but there is nothing in these books."

"Well… there _has_ to be a way, right?" Hainin demanded, starting to worry. What if he couldn't change back? What if he was stuck like a vampire? He didn't want to watch Nazir grow old, and he didn't want to watch Cicero grow old. He didn't want to stay young, like Babette, and watch the Family die a second time.

"There's a way," Babette promised. "I've read about vampires being cured. I just… don't know how it's done."

Hainin closed his eyes for a moment, leaning back in his chair. They couldn't give up, not yet. He had no intention of remaining a vampire for any longer than he had to.

For now, however, he decided that both he and Babette needed to go outside into the fresh air.

"Is it dark out?" he asked Babette, standing.

The girl looked up at him as he walked to the stained glass door. "Probably. Why?"

"I'm going to go see Shadowmere," he answered. "You can come if you want."

He pulled open the door and was hit with drafty, cold air. He sucked it in, smiling to himself, and then stepped into the secret passage. He followed it to the secret entrance, and moved the boards covering it a that he could climb out.

The night sky was filled with stars and clouds. The snow that must have fallen during the day glittered white on the ground. Nearby in his stall, Shadowmere snored a horsey snore.

Hainin grinned. It was hard not to feel happy when he took all of this in. It was cold, sure, and he was a vampire, and Nazir was gone, but he was alive.

Yes. He was alive. Immortal, but alive.

He turned at the sound of the secret entrance opening, and watched Babette climb out of it into the open. She shivered a bit and wrapped her arms around herself as she walked towards him.

"It is good to breathe every once in awhile," she admitted, inhaling the cold night air. "Everything feels… fresh."

"That's a good word for it," Hainin agreed, closing his eyes. Wind whispered over his face and through his hair, and he sighed to himself.

"Hainin," Babette began, breaking the peaceful silence that had fallen over the two of them.

"Hmm?"

"You don't like vampires, but you like me."

"You're my sister assassin," Hainin said simply, not opening his eyes. "You don't count."

"So… what if you were to meet another vampire, and form a bond with them?" Babette asked.

"Not likely," Hainin responded.

"I mean, you are one yourself, now, so I was thinking that maybe your opinion could change…"

Hainin opened his eyes, and glanced down at her. "You are the only exception I'll be making when it comes to vampires," he told her. "If anything's for sure, the last thing I want is to make friends with more. I might realize that all vampires have emotions, and start to feel sympathetic." He frowned. "Do you feel sympathetic towards them?"

Babette shrugged. "I probably would, if I let myself think about it." She exhaled. "It's best not to do that, though, isn't it?"

"I'd say so," Hainin replied, wrapping his own arms around himself. "Let's get back inside. Even though it's hard for us to change temperature, I still feel like I'm going to freeze."

"Did you read that in one of the books?" Babette queried, smiling to herself.

"Maybe, but that's what books are for," Hainin said defensively, shuffling her forward towards the secret entrance. "Back inside we go."

As he followed the vampire down into the passageway, Hainin considered what she'd said, about feeling for the vampires. It wasn't like they deserved sympathy, but, in a way, assassins were no different from the creatures the Dawnguard had so lovingly termed 'bloodsuckers'.

Hainin knew he'd never feel fully comfortable with vampires, even as one himself, but he also knew that, now that he was one, it was going to be more difficult for him to hate them.

For whatever reason, that bothered him.

As the sun began to rise, and Hainin and Babette prepared to send out some of the recruits on tasks, Nazir and Cicero were entering the Rift. They had traveled the whole day, had rested from when the sun set until the moon was high in the sky, and continued on.

They didn't talk much, the two assassins. Nazir didn't know if the jester had anything on his mind, but the Redguard's own was filled with possible ways the conversation with the Dawnguard leader could possibly go. He had to hope that they wouldn't sense the change about him.

Nazir wasn't even sure if there was an actual change. He _felt_ different, but he certainly hadn't gone through anything like Hainin had, which was the whole reason the Listener had stayed home. The only thing Nazir needed to worry about was hiding the marks on his wrists, which shouldn't be a problem.

The sun was barely reaching its highest point in the sky when Cicero and Nazir came up to the entrance to Dayspring Canyon. Nazir stopped, and turned to Cicero.

"Stay out here."

"I don't want too," Cicero said simply.

"No, but you're going to," Nazir replied. "You don't want to know what I'll do if you don't."

"What if -"

"If something happens, then you'll know about it," Nazir said, rolling his eyes. "Don't interfere even if something does happen. If…" He stopped and let out a breath. "If something _does_ happen to me, you need to go back to the Sanctuary and tell Hainin. Do you promise?"

Cicero didn't look like he wanted to, but he nodded all the same. Nazir decided that was as good as it was going to be, and he nodded back.

"If I'm not back in an hour, leave without me, and assume I've been taken captive," he went on.

"Why would they do that?" Cicero asked, his eyes widening.

Nazir merely held out a wrist. "A vampire's bitten me. Whether I'm turning or not, I've still been associated with a vampire, and they don't take that lightly here," he said. "An hour, Cicero."

Cicero nodded, weakly, and went to sit down on a rock and wait. Nazir watched him do so, and then he turned and headed into the canyon.

As he neared Fort Dawnguard, he heard the familiar sounds of a fight, and he picked up his pace, reaching for his scimitar. Rounding a corner of the canyon, he found a battle occurring between a group of vampires and some Dawnguard.

Nazir immediately pulled out his weapon and jumped into the fight, swinging at the closest vampire to him. The creature turned around with a hiss, its orange eyes glinting in the growing sunlight, but it hesitated when it faced him.

"You're different," the vampire snarled softly. "Different from the rest, but different from us. What are you?"

Nazir was taken by surprise, but before he could say anything, Isran swung his warhammer at the vampire, smashing its head in from behind. The other Redguard frowned at Nazir, but only for a moment, as a fellow Dawnguard was being cornered by another vampire.

Isran dashed off to help, and Nazir turned around as well, just in time to find a vampire creeping up behind him. Nazir wasted no time in driving his scimitar through the creature's throat as it made a lunge for him. The vampire let out a soft choking noise, and went limp on the end of Nazir's blade.

The Redguard kicked at the vampire's body, pushing it off of his weapon. The sounds of the fight had faded, and he found the Dawnguard who'd been in it heading away towards the fortress. Nazir looked around, trying to spot Isran.

Isran found him first. He tackled Nazir to the ground and held him there. Nazir glared up at the Dawnguard leader, struggling beneath him.

"Let me up," he growled. "I have news about what the vampires were looking for."

"Is that so?" Isran asked, pulling down the sleeve of Nazir's robe, and exposing the bite mark on his wrist. His eyes flashed to Nazir's. "Care to explain?"

"You know as well as I do that I'm not going to turn," Nazir responded.

"That doesn't matter," Isran said lowly. "You've been bitten, which means you've interacted with one, and by the positioning of the bite, willingly so." His gaze hardened. "What happened to your Imperial companion?"

Nazir didn't reply. Isran scowled and hauled the assassin to his feet, drawing his arms behind his back and holding them there.

"Guess we'll have to do this the hard way, then, won't we?" the Dawnguard leader queried, pushing Nazir forward towards the fortress.

Nazir didn't have any choice but to go the way he was directed. He couldn't fight these people, knowing what they would do to him, and to Hainin. It was best to cooperate, and to tell him what he knew.

"There was a girl hidden in Dimhollow Crypt," he started as Isran shoved him through the doors of Fort Dawnguard.

"A girl?" Isran queried incredulously.

"A _vampire_ ," Nazir persisted. "She's the daughter of the leader of a clan of them. They live on an island near Solitude."

"Very interesting," Isran said, although it didn't really sound like he thought so.

Nazir inhaled as he was shoved into the kitchen of all places and plunked down on a bench at the table, turned so that he was facing Isran. The Redguard hadn't taken his weapon, nor had he bound Nazir's wrists, so the assassin was a bit confused. Isran crossed his arms and gazed at him.

"I trust you won't be trying anything," he stated, "knowing that you are, in fact, outnumbered." He approached where Nazir was seated and glared down at him. "What was this vampire doing in Dimhollow?"

"She didn't say," Nazir replied, "only asked us to take her home, which we did. My companion was the only one who went inside with her, and he didn't share what they discussed."

"Is that when he was… bitten?" Isran sneered, and Nazir glared at him.

"No, he was bitten retrieving the information you requested," the Redguard growled. "He knew he'd be threatened if he came back here, so I came instead."

"Without knowing what he discussed with this vampire girl and her clan?" Isran inquired, lifting an eyebrow. "Sounds rather stupid, to me."

"She had an Elder Scroll," Nazir grumbled, using the last piece of information that could possibly help him in this situation. Isran's eyebrow lowered, and both furrowed as he stared at Nazir.

"An Elder Scroll? And you didn't try to take it from her?" he asked.

"Hainin was bitten," Nazir responded grimly. "You think I tried to take it from a vampire on my own?"

"You can't be changed."

"No, but a vampire bite still hurts, and they can tear us to shreds."

"Even so, they have everything they wanted, and we have nothing aside from a Redguard who's been willingly sucked from by a vampire," Isran concluded, his eyes darkening. "Perfect."

"So you're going to give up, then?" Nazir queried.

"Did I say that?" Isran asked, scowling. "No, of course I'm not giving up." He stalked away from Nazir a few paces, glaring at the ground. "This is more than we can handle," he muttered to himself.

Nazir sat quietly, glancing towards the doors of the Fort, which he could see from where he was. If he really, _really_ wanted too, he could try and run for them.

He looked towards where Isran paced, his eyes fixed on the floor. He waited until Isran's back was to him, and then Nazir was on his feet and darting towards the doors of Fort Dawnguard. He didn't get very far, because almost as soon as he was out of the kitchen, two different pairs of hands were grabbing him on either side.

"You're not going anywhere," Isran told him, walking around to the front of him as Nazir struggled between the Nord and Orc on either side of him. One set of eyes met another, and Isran crossed his arms. "If what I'm thinking proves to be true, you may be more valuable to us if you are kept here."

"What in the Divines' names are you talking about?" Nazir demanded.

"You did not travel here alone," Isran said. "Not with the threat of vampires. You had a companion, though I doubt it was the vampire." He turned to the Nord on Nazir's left side. "Find our friend's companion, and tell him to bring the message that we are keeping his friend here at Fort Dawnguard to the vampire."

"You can't keep me here," Nazir said as the Nord moved away from him, leaving the Orc to hold him instead.

"Of course we can," Isran said. "If the vampire knows that you're here, he'll come to us."

"That doesn't help you in the slightest," Nazir exclaimed.

"Doesn't it?" Isran asked, smiling. He looked at the Orc. "Take our friend here to one of the storage rooms, and make sure he stays in there. We don't need our bait running off."

"Hainin isn't stupid enough to fall for this!" Nazir shouted as the Orc carried him out of the main hall of Fort Dawnguard. "He'll know what you plan on doing!"

Isran didn't reply to his threats, and Nazir was unceremoniously dropped into an empty room. As he turned around, the solid stone door was slammed shut, leaving Nazir alone in the dusty space with no clue as to what to do now.

He closed his eyes and sank back against a wall before sliding to the floor and hanging his head in his hands.

"Dammit," he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes.

Cicero, meanwhile, was busy sprinting away from Dayspring Canyon as quickly as he could, the message from the Dawnguard Nord alight in his mind. The Dawnguard were keeping Nazir. They wanted the vampire to know about it. The vampire was either the scary child or the Listener. Cicero was going to guess it was the Listener.

He needed to tell the Listener that the Dawnguard had Nazir.

And he needed to do so quickly.

* * *

 **Well, what did Nazir think was going to happen, parading his bitten wrist around a group of vampire hunters?**


	11. The Prophecy

**I do not own any of Bethesda's marvelous characters, nor their story line. Just tryin' to shove my own characters into it because I'm selfish.**

 **Also, small reference in this chapter. See if you can spot it.**

* * *

Hainin threw his head back with a short exclamation, which caused Babette's gaze to raise from the potion she was mixing.

"What?" she demanded.

"Bored!" Hainin shouted.

"So go kill something!" Babette cried in response. "I'm trying to work!"

Hainin looked at her in contempt. "You're supposed to be on my side throughout all this."

"I told you to be careful," Babette said, glaring down at her potion as she furiously went back to grinding up an ingredient. "You weren't, and now you're stuck like this. And although I wish I could change you back, more than anything, I can't, so go find a way to entertain yourself, and leave me alone!"

Hainin bolted to his feet, ready to do just as she said. He marched for the stairs, deciding it was better if he left through the entrance farthest away from Dawnstar as possible. As he pulled it open and was greeted by a blast of cold air and snow, he found himself faced with a familiar face as well.

He blinked at the dark haired woman who stood before the door of the Sanctuary, a hood shielding most of her face. She lowered it when she noticed the Black Door had opened, and blinked orange eyes at him.

"Sorry for showing up like this," Serana said quietly, "but I need your help."

"H-how did you find me?" Hainin asked her, and the vampire smiled a bit.

"In all the years I've been stuck underground, the Dark Brotherhood hasn't changed its colors," she replied, gesturing to his armor. She then glanced upwards, at the cloud-covered sky. "Can I come in? Even with the sun hidden like this, it still burns out here."

"Yeah, of course," Hainin responded, quickly stepping out of the way of the door for her. She walked into the Sanctuary, and Hainin let the Black Door swing shut behind them before leading her into the main room of the Sanctuary.

"Babette, we… uh… we have company," he called down to the vampire child, who was still seated at the table, and then led Serana down the stairs to where she was.

Babette glanced up from her potion, and her own orange eyes widened when she saw Serana. Serana tilted her head, and let out a quiet sigh.

"Sorry," she said. "I'm sorry this happened to you, when you were so young."

"I… I've gotten used to it," Babette answered slowly. She then glanced at Hainin. "Care to introduce us, Listener?"

"Babette, this is Serana, the vampire Nazir, Cicero and I found in Dimhollow," Hainin said, gesturing to Serana. He then gestured to Babette. "This is another member of the Dark Brotherhood Family," he said to Serana.

"It's nice to meet you," Serana said to her, and Babette frowned.

"Same here," she replied, and then she looked at Hainin. "Why is she inside?"

"Because the sun was a pain," Hainin answered shortly. He waved his hand at a chair, and Serana slowly settled down into, pulling the very obvious Elder Scroll off of her back and laying it down on her lap instead.

"What do you need my help with?" Hainin asked, moving to sit down as well.

"As I'm sure you've noticed," Serana began, looking up from the Elder Scroll, "I have the Elder Scroll with me."

"Right, it's… there," Hainin agreed. "Why do _you_ have it, instead of your father?"

"You've probably figured this out already, but my father's not exactly a good person, even by vampire standards," Serana stated. "He wasn't always like this, though. There was… a turn. He stumbled onto this obscure prophecy and just kind of lost himself in it."

"And… I'm going to take a wild guess and say that the Elder Scroll has something to do with that prophecy," Hainin concluded, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

"What kind of prophecy?" Babette asked, moving her potion things off to the side so that she could rest her arms on the table.

"It's pointless and vague, like all prophecies," Serana responded. "The part he latched onto said that vampires would no longer need to fear the sun."

Babette's eyes widened again for the second time in a span of five minutes, and she looked at Hainin, whose eyebrows had furrowed as he studied the female vampire sitting across from him. He didn't say anything, however, and Serana continued.

"That's what he's after," she said. "He wants control of the sun, have vampires control the world." She shook her head. "Anyway, my mother and I didn't feel like inviting a war with all of Tamriel, so we tried to stop him. That's why I was sealed away with the Scroll." She gestured to where it rested on her lap. "He needs it to complete the prophecy, and so I assume it can also tell us how to stop him."

Hainin glanced at Babette. "Have you heard of anything like this?" he asked her. "A prophecy about putting the sun out?"

"No," Babette admitted, "although I've never actually seen an Elder Scroll, either, so I'm not surprised there is one."

Hainin turned back to Serana. "You and I both know that none of us here can read that," he said, nodding to the Scroll. "What do you expect me to help you with?"

"I need you to figure out _how_ we can read it," Serana replied. "You must have more connections than I do. Surely you must know someone who might have the slightest idea as to how we can read it."

Hainin sighed outwards and raised his eyes towards the stone ceiling. He did know someone who could tell them how to read it, but they were also one of the last people Hainin wanted to speak with.

Babette, however, knew who it was as well, and she reached over and punched Hainin in the arm. Hainin turned a glare to her, and the vampire child scowled.

"Set it aside, whatever it is," she ordered. "You need her help."

"I don't care," Hainin muttered. "I swore I'd never speak to her."

"Who?" Serana asked, her eyebrows drawing together.

"The Dragonborn," Hainin and Babette answered together.

This time, it was Serana's eyes who widened. "The Dragonborn? I thought… I thought they were a myth."

"So did most of Tamriel, but about two years ago, I was captured by Imperial soldiers and almost executed with one," Hainin told her. He returned his glare to Babette. "I don't want to deal with her."

"You have to," Babette insisted. "It's the only way you'll ever figure out what that says."

"Why do you even care?" Hainin asked her. "I would have thought you'd be elated that the sun might possibly go out."

Babette shook her head. "The sun is bigger than you or me, Hainin, in more ways than one. Even if it bothers us, it keeps practically every other living thing on Nirn alive. We need those other things to stay alive ourselves." She looked at Serana. "I'm guessing your father hasn't thought about this logistically."

"No, he's sort of lost his mind entirely, actually," Serana answered.

"I'm not going to the Dragonborn," Hainin said stubbornly. "I won't do it."

"Hainin -" Babette began, but before she could say more, the stained glass door flew open, and Cicero came running through it, red faced and out of breath. He collapsed on the floor of the Sanctuary, breathing heavily.

Hainin quickly stood and hurried over to him, crouching down beside him. "Cis? What's wrong?" he asked, resting a hand on the jester's shoulder.

"Dawnguard took Nazir," Cicero managed after a moment, inhaling a sharp breath of air. "They told Cicero to tell the vampire."

Needless to say, Hainin saw red. He stood up, a snarl growing in his throat. Babette hurried over to him and took his wrist in her small hand.

"Don't lose your head, not now," she said urgently, her voice soft. "That's what they want to happen, Hainin. They want you to get angry, to go to them so that they can _kill_ you."

"They have Nazir," Hainin hissed, glaring down at her.

"I know, but the best thing you can do to get him back is solve the Dawnguard's problem for them," Babette urged, "which means you need to figure out what that Elder Scroll says."

The red in Hainin's vision started to fade away as the sense of what Babette was saying settled into his mind. His shoulders rose and fell, and he closed his eyes for a moment.

 _I have to solve the problem to get Nazir back._

He opened his eyes and turned to Serana. "The Dragonborn lives in Whiterun," he told her, "with the Companions. We'll go there together." Serana merely nodded.

Hainin looked down at Cicero, who had sat up and was shaking his head to himself. "Stay here and rest," the Listener said to him. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

Cicero nodded in response, most likely still trying to regulate his breathing.

Hainin exhaled slowly to relax further, and glanced at Babette. "We'll go talk to Cry, figure out what we need. We might come back afterwards, and we might not need to."

"Got it," Babette responded. "We'll be all right here." She gestured towards the hood attached to his armor. "If you wear that, it'll make the sun less annoying."

Hainin reached behind his head and pulled up the hood, nodding gratefully to the vampire child. He then turned to Serana.

"Let's go," he said. "The sooner we get to Whiterun, the sooner we can leave."

"Hainin," Babette began, following the two other vampires towards the stained glass door. Hainin stopped and glanced at her, and the girl inhaled, suddenly looking the most like a child Hainin had ever seen her. "Everything's going to be fine, right?"

Something softened inside the Imperial, and he rested a hand on Babette's shoulder for a moment.

"Of course," he told her. "I promise." Babette nodded, and Hainin turned and exited the Sanctuary just behind Serana.

"That was impressive," she said to him as the stained glass door closed behind them.

"What was?" Hainin asked.

"You, calming down like that," Serana replied. "It's usually hard to get a vampire to relax once they're upset." She glanced at him. "She calmed you down without doing anything."

Hainin didn't really understand why Serana was impressed, so he decided to let the subject fall, and change the conversation. "Do you think we'll be able to take a carriage?" he queried.

"Probably," Serana responded. "I've come to realize that people don't really notice our kind unless we want them to notice."

"Not _our_ kind," Hainin grumbled under his breath.

Serana sighed. "I know you didn't ask to become a vampire, but you are one, so yes, the correct phrase is 'our kind'."

Hainin decided to let that subject fall, too.

Once they were out of the tunnel, they headed towards the carriage just outside of Dawnstar, Hainin pausing to say farewell to Shadowmere first. The black horse blinked red eyes at him as Hainin approached, but he did not react other than that.

"I have to leave again, buddy," Hainin told the horse, who snorted softly in response. Hainin held out a hand, and Shadowmere glanced at it before tossing his head and nickering. Hainin withdrew his hand, feeling sick, and turned to follow Serana, who'd stopped a few paces away.

"My horse doesn't even like me anymore," he said quietly, glancing down at his hand.

"Hey," Serana said, and Hainin glanced at her. "I promise that once this is all over, I'll help you find a cure."

Hainin blinked. "Really?"

"Vampirism isn't for everyone," she answered. "Even though it suits me and your friend Babette just fine, it doesn't work for you, and I don't want you to be needlessly uncomfortable." Serana sighed. "I know how it feels, being forced into something. You can either agree with it, like I did, or you can try to change the outcome once it happens." She looked at Hainin. "For you, it's best if we change the outcome, so I'll help you do that, in exchange for your help in stopping my father."

"Sounds fair," Hainin said after a moment, and Serana grinned a bit. Hainin returned it, and then gestured to the carriage. "To Whiterun?"

"To Whiterun," she agreed, following after him.

The carriage ride to the stables outside of Whiterun took up the remainder of the day, and led into the night as well. It was uncomfortable for the both of them, sitting in the back of the carriage underneath the sunlight. Hainin shifted around a lot more than Serana did, his thirst, which had not bothered him since Nazir and Cicero had left, suddenly hitting him with full force.

As the two of them climbed out of the carriage at Whiterun's stables, Hainin staggered a bit, groaning. Serana reached out to support his weight, and he inhaled, closing his eyes. Immediately, about a dozen different scents of blood attached themselves to him, and the Listener stiffened.

"Hainin," Serana warned quietly. He forced his eyes to open, and met hers. Despite the darkness, they were still glowing bright orange, and were fixed on him. "I know it hurts, but you can't. Not here."

"Tell me what I can do," Hainin whispered. Speaking made it feel like ten different daggers were stabbing into his throat all at once.

Serana sighed, and glanced around for a moment before leading Hainin away from the carriage and around to the back of the stable owner's home. Hainin blinked warily at her as Serana reached into the satchel hanging around her waist and produced a small glass bottle. Hainin's eyes widened when he realized what it contained, his mouth watering. He reached for it, but Serana held it away from him.

"Easy," she said. "I only have one."

"What…?"

"One of the perks of being a… vampire princess of sorts," Serana answered. "A handy bottle of blood for whenever I need it." She glanced at the bottle, and then at Hainin. "You need it more than I do." She offered the bottle to him, and Hainin snatched it from her.

He pulled the cork out of the stem and tilted the bottle into his mouth. Blood, its flavor distilled by however long it had been stored, still felt like a warm brew on a cold day as it washed down his throat, and Hainin's eyes drifted shut in relief.

Much too soon, the bottle was empty, and Hainin lowered it. His throat still stung, but it was bearable. He licked his lips and blinked a few times, before looking at Serana. She was watching him with something similar to pity in her eyes, and Hainin suddenly felt self-conscious. He handed the bottle and cork back to her, his eyes on the ground.

"Thanks," he said shortly.

"Yeah, sure," Serana responded, putting the empty bottle back into the satchel on her waist. She then glanced in the direction of Whiterun. The towers of Dragonsreach were visible over the high walls. "I'll bet the Dragonborn is asleep."

"Probably," Hainin said, "but I don't very much feel like wasting our travel time." He sighed when he saw Serana's expression, and crossed his arms. "I know what you're thinking."

"That we're asking for her help, and it would be wrong of us to wake her up in the middle of the night just because it suits our needs?" Serana queried.

"We do need her help, but traveling during the daytime isn't good for either of us," Hainin said. "It isn't like we'll keep her from her bed longer than we have too." Without waiting for further opposition, he turned and headed for the path that would lead them up to Whiterun's gates.

Serana hesitated a moment before following, and she jogged a bit to catch up with him.

"I know you're worried about your friend," she began.

"More than worried," Hainin interrupted without looking at her.

"The Dawnguard won't hurt him," Serana went on. "They only want to stop the vampires. Even though he's been associated with you, he's still human."

"So?"

"So… the Dawnguard aren't exactly harmless priests, but they can't be barbarians." Serana glanced at Hainin. "They'll leave him be for now."

"That 'for now' part is the reason we aren't going to wait until the Dragonborn wakes up," Hainin finished, picking up his pace again.

Serana watched him go, and she sighed to herself before going after him.

Hainin was stopped beside the guard on duty, who was leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. The companions could both hear his light snoring, and Hainin glanced at Serana with a raised eyebrow.

"With the threat of the dragons gone, Whiterun must think themselves invincible," he commented, reaching forward and pushing the gate open. It swung inwards silently, and Serana followed him through into the quiet city.

"What threat of dragons?" Serana asked, frowning.

"Until about a year ago, dragons were attacking Skyrim," Hainin explained. "The Dragonborn was the only one who could kill them for good. I don't really know the whole story, but there was this… main dragon, named Alduin, who was… in charge of all the other dragons. The Dragonborn traveled to Sovngarde and killed him."

Serana blinked at Hainin, who shrugged. "I know, I don't get it either," he admitted. "After that, she returned to Whiterun, got married to a Companion, and they've been living here ever since. A few weeks ago, they had a battle with Hircine about something or other, I don't know."

Serana didn't even try to ask him to explain that last bit. Instead, she asked, "When was the last time you spoke to her?"

"In person?" Hainin shrugged again. "No idea, but definitely not after I became a…" He trailed off, and cleared his throat. "Anyway, it'll be a surprise, so be prepared for a possible attack from trained brutes."

"Who are probably asleep," Serana added.

"Right, that too," Hainin agreed.

By now, they had reached the Cloud District of Whiterun, and were facing Jorrvaskr, the Companions' home. Hainin had never actually been inside of it, and looking at it now, through the shadows of the sleeping city, didn't exactly make him excited to go in.

He glanced at Serana, who was staring at the building. "Guess we'd better go in," he said.

"Just… walk in?" Serana queried, her eyes widening.

In response, Hainin turned back to Jorrvaskr and headed up the steps to the doors. Serana followed behind him, a bit more slowly. The Listener paused in front of the doors, and then he reached out and tested one. To his surprise, it opened inwards with a push on the wood.

Hainin glanced at Serana, who merely shook her head in response. Hainin gestured to the dark room on the other side of the door with a tilt of his head, and then he crept into Jorrvaskr.

His heightened sense of sight took in the dark room after a moment, and he saw a wide dining hall. Long tables surrounded a fire pit on three sides, all of which were in the center of the room, which was sunk into the floor a bit. A small set of stairs led down from the wooden walkway around the edges of the room into it. On the left side of the hall, Hainin noticed another set of stairs, leading downwards to what he could only assume was the sleeping quarters. The dining hall itself was vacant.

Hainin turned to Serana, who had followed him into Jorrvaskr and quietly closed the door behind her. He gestured towards the stairs on the left side of the hall, and she nodded in response. Hainin began to lead the way towards them, stopping only once, when a floorboard creaked as he stepped on it. He flinched at the sound, and cast a glance over his shoulder towards Serana, who'd frozen as well. Two pairs of orange eyes met, and then a door crashed open from somewhere nearby, and a loud battle call rang out around the hall.

Hainin let out a curse before he was tackled to the floor by what felt like a giant. He barely had time to cover his face with his hands before he was being punched. He could hear feminine grunts from nearby, and he hoped that Serana wasn't being hurt too badly.

Hainin grunted as a punch was sent into his side, and he attempted to push the heavy weight of his assailant off of him. The weight left, but Hainin didn't think he'd pushed it off on his own.

Indeed, when he opened his eyes, he found two slightly familiar faces above him. Both were framed by black hair, and both had silver eyes, although one set were darker than the other. Hainin knew these two men, and he managed a grin for them as he struggled into a sitting position.

"Companions," he greeted, rubbing at his jaw, which was already growing sore from the punches it had received. "What a pleasure."

"If only I could say the same, assassin," one of the Companions replied, his voice a low growl. "What are you doing here?"

Hainin searched through his brain, trying to find the names of these two men. One was married to the Dragonborn, and the other was her best friend, and brother-in-law. Which was which, and what name belonged to each of them?

"I come in peace, I assure you," Hainin said, not deciding on any of the names that he saw in his mind. Instead, he climbed to his feet, and looked at the one who wasn't breathing as heavily, and the one he decided who hadn't attacked him. "I need to speak with the Dragonborn."

The Companion's steely expression didn't change. "About what?"

Hainin glanced around, and spotted Serana standing a few paces away, backed against a wall by a female Companion with dark red hair. She gave Hainin a defeated look, and he turned back to the Companions before him.

"As you can see, I've gotten myself into a bit of a predicament," Hainin said, gesturing to his eyes.

"You're a vampire," the Companion who'd spoken so far said.

"Bloodsucking fiend," the other one grumbled, scowling.

"Right," Hainin said, deciding not to comment on the rude. He gestured towards Serana. "My companion and I are on a bit of a quest, and in order to move forward with that quest, I need the Dragonborn's help in reading the Elder Scroll my companion has with her."

The shorter Companion, and the one Hainin decided was in charge, glanced towards Serana and his female compatriot. "Aela," he said shortly.

The redhead stepped away from Serana, who brushed herself off and walked over to Hainin's side, pulling the Elder Scroll off of her back. Hainin pointed to it. "We need the information in here, and neither of us can read it. I was hoping that Cry could."

The bigger Companion's scowl only deepened, and he looked at his brother. "Vilkas," he said quietly.

 _Vilkas_! Hainin thought triumphantly. _I knew that_.

Vilkas nodded in understanding, and returned his attention to Hainin. "Cry isn't here," he said.

Hainin frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that she is not here at Jorrvaskr," Vilkas said, his expression hardening again.

"She left." The female Companion, Aela, walked around to join the two men, arms crossing. "A week ago."

Hainin did his best to keep from groaning. "Why?"

"She just did," Vilkas's brother growled. "Doesn't matter to you."

"It does, actually, because I need her help," Hainin said with a roll of his eyes. "Any help in finding her would be appreciated."

Both Aela and the bigger male Companion looked at Vilkas. Hainin turned his attention to him as well, and saw, with surprise, that the Companion appeared to be… sad. So Cry wasn't just out on a Companion or Dragonborn task. She'd left, and it was clearly a sore subject.

"I do not know where she's gone," Vilkas said quietly. "I wish I did." He shook his head to himself. "Divines know I wish I did."

Hainin felt a bit uncomfortable. Clearly something had happened that had made the Dragonborn leave without saying anything, and, it seemed, that it was still something that wasn't easily spoken about amongst the Companions. He knew better than to try and get any further information.

Instead, he glanced at Serana, who'd also felt the sadness coming from the three Companions, and was looking at him as well. Hainin shook his head slightly, and Serana lowered her gaze in understanding. Hainin then turned back to the Companions.

"I'm sorry," he said to them. "I… I hope she comes back soon."

"So do I," Vilkas responded. "If we could help you, we would."

"I know." Hainin raised and lowered his shoulders. "Come on, Serana." He turned and headed out of Jorrvaskr, not sure what they were going to do. Serana caught up with him outside, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?"

"For not trying to push them for information," she responded. "It would have just made things all the more difficult for everyone." She offered him a small smile. "We'll figure it out. If anything… the College of Winterhold is still around, right?"

Hainin frowned, but then understood what she meant, and nodded. "Good idea." He gestured for her to follow, and started to walk away from Jorrvaskr.

"Assassin!" He stopped at the voice, and turned to see the burlier Companion jogging towards them. He stopped when he'd reached them, and let out a breath. "Cry went to join the Stormcloaks."

Hainin blinked at him in confusion. "What?" he asked.

"Her sister's a Stormcloak, and Cry went with her when the Stormcloaks left Whiterun after the battle," the Companion said. "Cry asked me not to tell anyone, and I haven't." A small expression of guilt crossed the Companion's face. "I wish she knew what my brother is going through, what we're all going through."

"Why did she leave?" Hainin queried, doubting that it was because the Dragonborn felt a sense of duty in joining the rebel army.

"She told us about her past, and some of us weren't very happy with what we heard," the Companion explained. "I think she wanted to give us time to calm down, and thought we could do that better if she wasn't here."

"I'm going to guess it's the other way around," Hainin concluded. The Companion nodded, and the Listener sighed. "Thank you for telling me. If I find her, I'll tell her what's happening here, and that you want her to return home."

The Companion's eyes lit up a bit. "We'd like that," he said. "We really do miss her." He glanced over his shoulder towards Jorrvaskr. "Vilkas especially."

"I'll do what I can to get her back here," Hainin told him. "Thank you again. Come on, Serana."

The two of them turned and headed for Whiterun's gates. When they were outside the city, Hainin began to lead the way along the stone path.

"Where are we going?" Serana asked him.

"Windhelm, the seat of the Stormcloak leader," Hainin answered, "and, hopefully, where we'll find the Dragonborn."

* * *

 **I love aligning the stories of characters. I really want there to be a thing where you can put all your little dudes into the same world. I'd do it on Sims, but... y'know, it's not exactly the same thing, is it?**


	12. The Elder Scroll and the Dragonborn

**Don't own Elder Scrolls: V. Just Hainin Marshal. And... the other ones that aren't actually in the game.**

* * *

They reached Windhelm as night fell the following day, having traveled the whole night before, and then ducked through the shadowy passages of the snowy hills between Whiterun and Windhelm during the day.

Serana seemed to hate the snow just as much as Hainin did, for she kept her cloak tightly wrapped around her shoulders, and her hood drawn low over her face.

"I hate the sun as much as the next vampire, but I'm starting to think it would be better than this," she commented to Hainin as the two of them headed for the gates of the city.

"I'm close to agreeing with you," Hainin admitted, pausing outside the gate to be attended to by the guard on duty, who walked over to them.

"What's your business in Windhelm?" the Nord guard asked.

"Seeking the Dragonborn, friend," Hainin answered. "Is she still here?"

"As far as I know," the guard answered. "King Ulfric hasn't sent out any troops since the battalion from Whiterun arrived last Tirdas." He turned and opened the gate, and then looked at Hainin. "I suggest preparing for a bit of an onslaught when you get inside. Everyone's been a bit jumpy."

"Why's that?" Serana inquired.

"We were attacked by vampires day before last," the guard said, and then he turned and walked off again. Hainin and Serana exchanged a brief glance before Hainin led the way into Windhelm.

The city was always shrouded in darkness, Hainin had found, and, oddly enough, it helped him to relax. The last thing he wanted to do was attract unwanted attention, and with the shadows making everyone look suspicious, it was easier to avoid it.

He and Serana made their way through the square and towards the Palace of Kings at the other end of the city, passing a squabbling Dark Elf and Nord. Seeing this reminded Hainin of why he didn't support the Stormcloaks in the stupid war. They were racists, and his closest friend and lover was a Redguard, who was perhaps not looked down upon as much as elves were, but was still considered a foreign species, and it made Hainin angry.

He clenched his fists as he passed the fight, and continued on his way towards the Palace. He imagined that the Dragonborn had been given lodgings there, considering her importance in Skyrim, and all of Tamriel. Even Ulfric Stormcloak would have to accept that she mattered, and perhaps even view her as more important than himself.

"So, when we get inside, what do we say?" Serana asked him.

"We say that we're looking to visit with the Dragonborn, and if she refuses us, then we'll send word that we're fighting the other evil, Daedra-created species threatening Skyrim." Serana looked at him, and Hainin smiled. "She just got finished fighting werewolves, and ended the dragon crisis before that. Hearing that someone else is dealing with the vampires should be enough to spark her interest."

They reached the doors of the Palace, and the guards standing there opened them. Hainin walked into the main hall first, with Serana right behind him. As Hainin had imagined, the main hall was empty, although voices could be heard from the other end, coming from a room.

Hainin decided to head there first, which he did. Serana came after him, and Hainin paused outside of the room, tilting his head towards the partially closed door. Male voices came from the other side, and it sounded as though they were discussing troop movements. Generals of the Stormcloak army then.

Hainin nodded to Serana, and then stepped up to the door and let his knuckles rap against it. The door fell open from his touch, and he blinked at the two men he found himself suddenly faced with when it did.

One of them men reached for the weapon hanging on his back, but the other, the one Hainin recognized, held up a hand, signifying that his companion could relax. Hainin let his hand fall down to his side, and he dipped his head.

"Jarl Ulfric," he began. "I wasn't expecting you to be the one I spoke with."

"And rarely am I available," Ulfric Stormcloak agreed, walking around the table in the center of the room towards Hainin. "What is it we can help you with, Listener of the Dark Brotherhood?"

What could he say? Hainin was a pretty well known figure, too.

"My companion and I are searching for Cry Silverworthy, the Dragonborn," he said to Ulfric. "We'd heard that she had come to Windhelm with the battalion from Whiterun, and were hoping she was still here."

Ulfric glanced at his companion, a big bear of a fellow with a graying beard. "She is here, but, as you can imagine, she's retired for the evening," the Jarl said after a moment. He turned back to Hainin. "Is your business with her urgent?"

"Yes," Hainin admitted. "It has to do with the vampire menace that's recently begun plaguing Skyrim. Your guard outside the city's gates told us that Windhelm was attacked only two days ago."

"Yes," Ulfric replied. "And… you believe the Dragonborn can assist you with what, exactly?"

Hainin gestured to the Elder Scroll on Serana's back. "Reading this."

"By the Gods," Ulfric's companion said, his eyes growing wide. "Is that…?"

"An Elder Scroll," Hainin confirmed. "We need Cry to read it for us, and tell us what we need to know in order to stop the vampires from… well, achieving whatever it is they plan on achieving." He grinned, seeing the expression on Ulfric's face. "You thought I was here to kill you."

"The thought may have crossed my mind," Ulfric replied, smiling as well. "Needless to say, I am relieved that you are not here to do so." He looked at his friend. "Galmar, go see if the Dragonborn is still awake, and tell her she has company."

Galmar grunted. "Should I tell her said company is an assassin and a vampire?"

"I would avoid that," Ulfric said. Galmar nodded, and shuffled off to do as he was told.

Ulfric gestured for Hainin and Serana to follow him back into the main hall. "I am curious," he began, climbing the steps to his throne. "How did you come by that Elder Scroll?"

Serana looked sideways at Hainin, who crossed his arms and pretended to look at something else and not pay attention to the conversation. Serana turned back to the Jarl and shrugged. "Just found it."

"Is that so?" Ulfric inquired, an eyebrow raising.

"Yes," Serana answered shortly, her eyes narrowing.

Ulfric did not push further on the subject, and, thankfully, Galmar returned then, with two females walking behind him, one of whom Hainin recognized, and the other whom he didn't.

Cry Silverworthy, Dragonborn and Harbinger of the Companions, looked radiant even with sleep in her eyes and her hair undone. She pushed it out of her face and crossed her arms when she saw Hainin. Her already fairly catlike eyes narrowed even further, the blue glinting in the torchlight.

"You didn't say the company was unpleasant," she said to Galmar, who chuckled a bit in response. Cry frowned and glared at Hainin. "What are you doing here, assassin?"

"Oh, Cry, you wound me," Hainin said, putting a hand to his chest. "You know I wouldn't speak with you unless I absolutely needed your help." He gestured to his eyes. "As you can see, I need your help."

"I can see that you've turned into a vampire, and I can tell you right now that I can't help you change back," Cry informed him. "You've disturbed my sleep for nothing."

"No, Cry," Hainin said. "I don't need your help in turning me back. I need your help in stopping the other vampires."

The Dragonborn sighed. "What, then, Hainin?"

Hainin waved his hand to Serana, signifying that she should speak. Serana walked towards where Cry stood next to the red headed female who had yet to say anything. The vampire pulled the Elder Scroll off of her back and showed it to Cry.

"I imagine you've seen one of these before?" she asked her.

Cry took a literal step backwards, as though she were shying away from it. "Get that thing away from me," she whispered.

Serana frowned and lowered the Elder Scroll. "Sorry," she apologized.

"I never wanted to see one of those again," Cry said, turning away.

"We need you to read it," Hainin said.

"I'm sorry, but I can't."

"You can't… or you won't?" Hainin asked her.

"I _won't_ ," Cry replied, glaring at him. "Those things are cursed, Hainin. I suggest you get rid of it as soon as possible." She turned her gaze to the other woman in the room. "Let's go back to bed, Sister."

"Hold on," the redhead said, putting a hand on Cry's arm. She looked at Serana, and then at the Dragonborn. "You can actually read that?"

Cry sighed. "Yes," she said, "but do you even know what 'that' is, Faisley?"

"From what you've told me, I'd say it's an Elder Scroll." Faisley turned to Serana. "What's in there that you need my sister's help reading?"

Serana exhaled, and glanced over at Hainin, who crossed his arms and nodded. Serana turned back to the two sisters. "My father is the vampire lord of Castle Volkihar," she began. "A long time ago, he came across a prophecy that said the sun could be put out. He's been looking for a way to do so ever since. Hainin and I need to find out what the prophecy says so that we can stop him." Serana looked down at the Elder Scroll. "The prophecy's written in here."

Faisley's expression had slowly grown darker as Serana explained. She glanced at Cry, who was studying the floor of the palace, and then at Ulfric, who was frowning to himself, his elbow resting on the arm of his throne, and his chin on his fist.

"The vampires want to put out the sun?" Galmar asked, sounding a bit incredulous.

"Yes," Serana replied, "and Hainin and I are going to stop it from happening." She looked at Cry. "But we need your help, Dragonborn."

Cry shook her head, and Faisley reached over and pulled her into a hug. "Easy, little sister," she soothed. "I know you don't want to, but it's important that you do."

"I don't -" Cry inhaled and closed her eyes. "I can't, Faisley. It… it hurts."

Faisley led her sister away from the gathered party a few paces, speaking quietly to her as she did so. Hainin sighed to himself and turned his attention to the floor. If Cry decided not to read the Elder Scroll, what were they supposed to do? She was their only choice.

He let out a breath and glanced at Serana. The vampire was studying the Elder Scroll, frowning to herself. He then glanced at Ulfric and Galmar. The two of them were talking quietly with one another. Hainin turned to Faisley and Cry. The sisters were standing a few paces away, and Faisley was speaking to Cry, her hands on her shoulders. Hainin hesitated for a moment, and then walked over to them.

"Cry." She turned her gaze towards him, and he raised and lowered his shoulders. "The Companions want you to go home, to Jorrvaskr."

"What?" Cry asked, brushing at her eyes with the back of one hand.

"I know that you left to give them time to think, but… they want you there. It was actually sad, seeing the way they all looked when I brought you up, Vilkas especially." Hainin smiled. "I told your friend I'd ask you to go home when I found you, so… if you decide not to help us, will you at least go back to Jorrvaskr?"

Cry looked like she didn't know what to say, and she didn't speak for a very long moment. She lowered her eyes to the floor, and they stayed still for a while. Finally, however, they raised and met Hainin's.

"I'll read it," she whispered.

Hainin exhaled, and grinned. "Thank you," he said, and then waved his hand at Serana. The vampire walked over to them, and passed the Elder Scroll to Cry. She took it, hands shaking, and backed away from the others a few paces.

"If… if everyone could be quiet, it'd make this a lot easier," she said, and then she pulled the scroll out of the gold casing. Her eyes flitted over the Elder Scroll a moment, and she blinked a few times before speaking: "A… a bow. A golden bow… when dragons return to the realms of men, darkness will mingle with the light, and night and day will be as one…"

Hainin and Serana exchanged a look. A bow? What kind of bow, and why would they need it?

Cry wasn't finished. "It says that… the bow's power is written in other scrolls. There's more to the prophecy than what we already know. The other scrolls… the one about the secrets of the dragons, and the one about… the potency of ancient blood. In order to know the whole prophecy, you need all three scrolls."

The Dragonborn lowered the Elder Scroll, letting it go back into the golden casing. She staggered a bit, blinking, and Faisley hurried forward to support her weight. One of Cry's hands went across her eyes, and she inhaled sharply.

"Sister?" Faisley asked softly.

After a moment, Cry's hand lowered, and she blinked a few more times before shaking her head to herself, and holding the Elder Scroll out to Serana again.

"It blinds me for a moment," she explained when she saw the vampire's expression, "but I'm okay. You need two more scrolls in order to know the entire prophecy, and how this bow fits into it." Cry glanced at Hainin. "The Elder Scroll I found is at the College of Winterhold. It's the one that speaks of the dragons. I don't know where the other one is. I'm sorry."

Hainin shrugged. "You've done more than enough."

"We really do appreciate it," Serana told her, giving Hainin a side glance. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," Cry responded, turning her eyes back to Hainin. She blinked at him, and he dipped his head in response before turning around and facing Ulfric.

"Thank you for your time, Jarl Ulfric!" he called down the hall.

"Of course, Listener," Ulfric responded. "Remember this the next time you receive a Black Sacrament cursing my name."

"I'll do that," Hainin agreed, grinning. He then looked at Serana. "Guess we're headed to the College of Winterhold," he told her.

The two of them headed out of the Palace of Kings, waving goodbye. When they were out in the cold night air, Serana reached out and grabbed Hainin's arm.

"I think I know where we can find the other scroll," she told him.

Hainin was about to speak, when he noticed a pair of shining yellow eyes watching them from the shadows. He took Serana's arm in his hand instead and began leading her towards Windhelm's gates.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" he demanded quietly.

"Because I didn't know we'd need it," Serana hissed in response. "Living with my prophecy obsessed father hasn't really given my any desire to share secret information with people."

Hainin sighed, and pushed the gate open for her. "When did you stop trusting him?" he asked her, following her out of Windhelm.

Serana shook her head. "It isn't a matter of trust, Hainin. He's just… he's so deep into the idea that this prophecy will solve all his problems. I'd thought that with time, he'd eventually forget about it, but he didn't. In fact, it's only gotten worse." She laughed dryly. "My mother and I should have found him a hobby." She lost her grin, and sighed. "I don't think he even sees me as a daughter anymore. I'm just a… means to an end."

Hainin didn't really know what to say to that, so there was silence as they paused on the road just outside the city, and he turned to face her. "Where's the scroll?" he asked.

"We need to find my mother, Valerica. She'll definitely know where it is, and, if we're lucky, has it herself."

"But you don't know where she is?" Hainin guessed.

"The last time I saw her, she said she'd go somewhere safe… somewhere my father would never search. Other than that, she wouldn't tell me anything. But… the way she said it. 'Someplace he would never search'. It was cryptic, but she also called attention to it."

"Maybe she was being cautious," Hainin said, shrugging.

"Maybe. What I can't figure out is why she said it that way. Besides, I can't imagine a single place my father would avoid looking. And he's had all this time, too." She glanced at him. "Any ideas?"

Hainin let out a laugh. "I don't know. In the castle?"

"You know… that actually makes sense," Serana said.

"I was kidding."

"I know that, but there's a courtyard in the castle. I used to help my mother tend a garden there. All of the ingredients for our potions came from that garden. She used to say my father couldn't stand it there. Too… peaceful."

"But… wouldn't it be risky, staying so near the castle?"

Serana frowned. "Absolutely. But my mother's no coward." She hesitated. "That is… I don't think we'll be tripping over her there, but it's worth a look."

Hainin let out a breath. It wasn't as though they had any other choice. And he really was missing Nazir. The sooner they found some information, the better, because then they could give it to the Dawnguard as a peace offering, and maybe, just maybe, get Nazir back.

Still, there was more than one obstacle standing in their way, although one was more obvious than others.

"I doubt they'll let us in through the front door," he said to Serana.

"True, but I know a way we can get to the courtyard without arousing suspicion. There's an unused inlet on the northern side of the castle. An old escape tunnel from the castle exits there. I think that's our way in," she said, glancing down the road.

Hainin shrugged his shoulders. "Then let's get to that secret entrance," he decided.

"It's around the side of the castle," Serana told him. "Let's get moving."

* * *

 **"It's around the side of the castle," she says. Like it's no big deal to go from Windhelm to an island off the coast of Solitude to sneak into a hidden area of a vampire infested -**

 **Wait. _They're_ vampires too, aren't they? **

**I guess it's all right, then.**


	13. The Harbinger and the Companions

**Don't own Elder Scrolls: V. Just Hainin Marshal. And... the other ones that aren't actually in the game.**

 **Also this the longest chapter of anything I've ever written ever. Landmarks!**

* * *

Nazir blinked as the door to the storage room was pulled open, and Isran walked in, standing so that the entrance was blocked by his frame.

"Ah," Nazir said, gazing up at him. "Discover anything new?"

"We've gotten reports that your friend is traveling around Skyrim with a young woman with dark hair," Isran responded. "Do you know who that is?"

Nazir tilted his head. "Yes, but it won't matter much to you."

"Try me," Isran said, crossing his arms.

Nazir sighed to himself and leaned back against the wall, stretching. "I was only with her for a few days, but I believe that your dark haired young woman is the vampire we found in Dimhollow Crypt," he said to Isran. "And before you ask, I have no idea as to what Hainin could be doing with her. Sorry."

"They have the Elder Scroll with them," Isran told him.

Nazir raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Interesting."

"Anything you can tell me about that?" Isran inquired.

Nazir pretended to think about it for a moment, and then shook his head. "No, I don't think I've miraculously gained any knowledge on the contents of the Elder Scroll since you asked me about it yesterday." He narrowed his eyes. "Forgive me."

"I'm inclined to," Isran responded. "I wish you knew more, because I might be inclined to let you go as well." He shrugged. "Too bad."

He started to turn and leave, and Nazir hesitated a moment before saying, "Wait." Isran did, and he glanced over his shoulder. Nazir exhaled. "If they have the Elder Scroll, I'd bet gold that they went and visited the Dragonborn."

This seemed to spark Isran's interest. He turned around to face Nazir fully. "Really?"

"I think so," Nazir said. "No one in Skyrim can read an Elder Scroll aside from the Dragonborn, if she can." He gazed up at Isran. "If you want to find out their plans, I'd go looking for the Dragonborn."

"Huh." Isran thought about it for a moment. "What if you were to go looking for the Dragonborn, for me?"

Nazir frowned. "Why would you do that?"

"Well, you wouldn't go alone, of course, but I can't waste more men than I have to following a lead down a rabbit hole." Isran gestured to Nazir. "Sending you is the good middle ground."

"I'll go, of course," Nazir said, starting to climb to his feet. "Who's going with me?"

Isran merely waved his hand. Nazir followed the Dawnguard leader out into the fortress, and watched as Isran gestured to a young Nord, who abandoned the bowl of stew on the table before him and jogged over.

"Isran?" he asked, tilting his head when he saw Nazir as well. "What do you need?"

"Nazir, this is Agmaer," Isran explained. "He's going to go with you to find the Dragonborn."

Agmaer seemed to find this to be news, based on his expression, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he offered Nazir his hand. The Redguard hesitated a moment, before shaking it, although a dark thought had crept into his mind.

He pushed it away to the darkest recesses, and looked at Isran, dropping Agmaer's hand. "I trust you'll be giving us supplies. And…?" He gestured to his sword belt, which was vacant of a weapon.

Isran nodded in understanding. "You can leave tomorrow morning. Do you know where you'll go?"

"The Dragonborn is Harbinger of the Companions, so Whiterun is our best bet," Nazir said, looking at Agmaer. "You've been to Whiterun before, I'm sure?"

"I'm… I'm from Whiterun Hold," Agmaer said, glancing down at the floor.

"Oh, good," Nazir said with a hint of sarcasm. "I'm sure you'll be extremely helpful, then."

"Until tomorrow," Isran said before Agmaer could speak, "get some rest, both of you. Whiterun isn't exactly as close as Riften."

"Fine," Nazir replied. "I won't be sleeping in the storage room again?"

Isran's jaw stiffened. "No," he said stonily. "You won't. In fact, sit down and have some stew, _friend_."

Nazir smiled to himself as Isran and Agmaer walked back over to the table, and then he went over to join them, reaching for an empty wooden bowl. He carried it over to the pot hanging above the fire pit on one wall, and filled it with some of the steaming stew inside. It did look rather good.

He returned to the table and sat down at the very end, avoiding the group of Dawnguard that were seated together at the other. Jokes seemed to be going back and forth between the members, and Nazir winced with every bout of laughter that he heard. The last time he and his own Family had had such a joyful meal was before the events with Astrid and the Penitus Oculatus.

 _Don't start on that again_ , he thought to himself in annoyance. _The last thing you need right now is to start feeling badly about events you couldn't have stopped._

"Hey." Nazir looked up from his stew at the gentle voice, and found the Bosmer that had been apart of the group that had found Hainin and himself on their first visit to the fortress standing across the table from him, her head tilted. "You feel okay? You look a little sick."

"I have been living in a storage room for the past few days," Nazir responded, not without a bit of dry sarcasm in his tone.

"Yeah, sorry about that." The sarcasm had apparently gone over the elf's head. "Isran can hold a grudge." Nazir studied her as she grinned at him, and then he glanced over his shoulder.

"Can I help you with something?" he finally asked her.

The Bosmer blinked amber eyes. "Oh! No, sorry. You just looked lonely down here by yourself, and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Nazir refrained from saying something even more sarcastic, and instead he returned his attention to his stew. The Bosmer didn't seem to understand that was him wanting her to leave, because she went on: "I'm Beleval, by the way."

"That's nice," Nazir said, using a spoon to ladle up some stew.

Instead of walking away, like he'd hoped she would, Beleval sat down across from him, setting her own bowl of stew down on the table.

"Hey," she started, sounding a bit embarrassed, "is it true that your Imperial friend turned into a vampire?" Nazir's hand reflexively tightened around his spoon, and he raised his eyes from his stew to meet Beleval's. The Bosmer blinked again. "Oh. Sensitive topic, huh?"

Nazir stared at her a moment longer, and then returned his gaze to his stew and went back to eating. Beleval was quiet for a moment.

"I just feel bad, you know? Because he turned on a job you were doing for the Dawnguard. So… I'm sorry," she finally said.

"Why should you feel sorry?" Nazir asked without looking up. "It wasn't your doing."

"Well, no… but usually when something bad happens to someone, you say "Sorry"." Nazir inhaled. "Common courtesy, I think."

Nazir took a moment to relax, and then he looked up from his dinner again and at the Bosmer. "Thank you, then," he said. "I… appreciate it."

Beleval smiled, and dipped her head before turning her attention to her food. Nazir watched her for a moment, waiting for her to say more. When she didn't, he let out a quiet sigh of relief, and returned to eating himself.

Beleval didn't speak again in the time it took him to finish his meal. Nazir glanced at her before rising from his seat on the bench at the table, and looking towards the other end, towards the rest of the Dawnguard. Most of them had left their bowls on the table, so Nazir decided he would do the same.

He was walking away from the kitchen when Isran stepped in front of him, seemingly out of nowhere, and forced Nazir to a halt.

"What?"

"You want to know where you'll be sleeping?" Isran inquired.

Nazir blinked at him. "I assume it's the same place Hainin and I slept before."

Isran shook his head, and then gestured with his hand. "Follow me."

Nazir did as he asked, not seeing any other choice. Isran led him down a hallway to a cavern like area that oddly reminded Nazir of the Falkreath Sanctuary. Stepping into the shadowy region of Fort Dawnguard sent a weird feeling straight to Nazir's core, and he had to stop and inhale.

Isran noticed, and glanced back at him. "Problem?" he queried.

Nazir shook his head, not wanting to explain himself, and looked at the other Redguard. "Where are we going?"

Isran waved his hand at a cot that was nestled in an area between a large rock and the stone wall of the fortress. "That's yours," he told Nazir.

The assassin frowned at the cot, and then at Isran. "Really?"

"Really," Isran confirmed, nodding and crossing his arms. "It's the farthest away from the doors of the fortress, so you won't be able to leave without one of us knowing about it." Isran grinned, and gestured with his head towards the large wooden barrier nearby. "And, of course, you'll have to deal with our friends in there."

"Friends?" Nazir asked, frowning.

Isran led the way towards the wooden stairs that were built up to the top of the wooden barrier, and pointed over the side.

Warily, Nazir peered over the the wall, and blinked at what he found on the other side.

A troll, dressed in _armor_ , shuffled back and forth across the pit, while another sat in a corner, sleeping.

"Why do you have trolls?" Nazir managed.

"One of our members knows how to train them for battle," Isran explained, smirking. "We captured these ones a few weeks ago. They're already almost full-sized, and completely ready for fighting."

Nazir shook his head and backed away from the barrier. "I won't try to leave," he said.

"I didn't think you would," Isran agreed, walking back down the stairs. "You'll set out at dawn." He looked up at Nazir. "See you in the morning, thrall."

Isran walked out of the cavern, leaving Nazir at the top of the wooden stairs, frowning to himself.

 _Thrall? What in Sithis's name did he mean by… oh._

Thrall. A vampire's thrall. Hainin's thrall.

Nazir shook his head and climbed back down the stairs. He was _not_ Hainin's thrall. Insults never bothered him, rarely, anyhow, but it was a insult to Hainin as well, and Nazir couldn't have that.

If it came to it, Isran would be the first one he killed.

After a night of fitful sleep, interrupted by the occasional fight between the trolls, Nazir was awakened when Isran roughly shook his shoulder the following morning.

"Wake up," Isran said. "If you want to get to Whiterun by nightfall, you need to get moving."

Nazir didn't bother hiding the glare he sent in Isran's direction as he sat up and rubbed at his eyes, yawning widely. He then slid off of his cot and followed the Dawnguard leader out of the cavernous room and into the main hall of the fortress. Agmaer was already there, complete with a knapsack and a crossbow hung over his shoulders. Isran reached for the scabbard Nazir spotted on the floor.

Isran turned to face him, and passed over the scabbard. Nazir pulled his scimitar out of it and let out a silent sigh of relief. He'd never felt safe without his weapon.

"We'll expect you back in three days' time," Isran told the two of them as Nazir slid the scabbard around his waist.

"No promises," Nazir told him, looking up from his sword belt. "Depending on the weather, it may be more."

Isran frowned at him. "Three days," he said again, and then gestured to the doors of Fort Dawnguard. "Go on, get out of here. Figure out what's so important about that damn Elder Scroll."

Nazir didn't even wave goodbye. He turned and headed right out of the fortress, leaving Agmaer to hurry after him.

Silence settled over the two of them as Nazir led the way out of Dayspring Canyon and into the open land of the Rift. Agmaer seemed content to keep his eyes on the road and his mouth closed, and that suited Nazir just fine. He had no plans to make this Nord his friend. He was merely a means to an end, someone who was in his way of getting to Hainin, and back to the Sanctuary.

And, if Nazir had too, he would make sure Agmaer was no longer in the way.

Nazir decided, on his own, that taking a carriage would be a hassle, and so he avoided Riften and kept following the road that would take the two of them to Whiterun. At the fork where the Darkwater River turned into the White River, he stopped and glanced at Agmaer.

"You have any food in there?" he inquired, gesturing to the knapsack the young Nord had on his shoulders. They'd been travelling non-stop since dawn, and it was nearing mid afternoon; no doubt, Agmaer was starving, just like Nazir was.

"Oh! Oh, yes," Agmaer said, quickly pulling the knapsack off of his back and setting it down on the ground. He started to root around in it while Nazir glanced up and down the Darkwater, eyeing it's rapid current with curiosity.

Agmaer glanced up from the knapsack before finding any food. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"What?" Nazir asked, not paying attention.

"You seem like you're in a hurry, but…" Nazir looked down at him, and Agmaer quickly returned his eyes to the knapsack. "Sorry, never mind. You probably don't want to talk about it, especially not with me."

Nazir chose not to say anything in response. Agmaer pulled out a loaf of bread wrapped in a cloth, and he pulled the cloth back before breaking the loaf into two halves. He offered one half to Nazir, who took it and immediately took a bite out of it. He glanced down when Agmaer's hand rose again, this time holding a bright red apple.

"Isran thought we could get some food in Whiterun," the Nord explained when Nazir snatched the apple as well. "So… I didn't pack much more than that."

"It's fine," Nazir said, finishing off his half of the bread. "Eat and walk?"

"Sure, I can do that," Agmaer answered, flipping the knapsack closed. He pulled it back on, and took a bite out of his half of the loaf, gesturing for Nazir to lead on.

The assassin did so, taking a bite of his apple. As he walked on ahead of the Nord a few paces, he considered the young man, and wondered what had provoked him to join the Dawnguard.

He then decided that, since he hadn't wanted to share with Agmaer, that Agmaer wouldn't want to share with him.

The White River was flowing a lot more calmly than the Darkwater. Nazir was able to see the silver bodies of salmon swimming just between the surface, light glinting off of the water and making them shimmer. He noticed two of them together, and he came to a stop and watched as they swum in lazy circles around one another, barely realizing that he was no longer walking.

Agmaer was watching the salmon, too, and he slowed to a stop next to Nazir. He saw the Redguard watching the two salmon, and the look on his face. Agmaer frowned.

"You really care about that Imperial you were with, huh?" he guessed.

Nazir blinked, and looked up from the river. "Yes," he said after studying Agmaer for a moment. "I do."

"I'm sorry that he's our enemy, now," Agmaer said quietly. "He was kind of funny."

Nazir smiled to himself. "He is funny," he told Agmaer. "Very much so."

"Well…" Agmaer glanced at Nazir. "Maybe there's a way for you to change him back."

Nazir nodded. "That's what we're hoping for." He exhaled. "Let's keep going. Whiterun will be within sight in two hours if we move briskly.'

"Lead on," Agmaer responded.

Nazir did so, and continued on down the road along the White River, making sure to avoid looking into the water this time.

He was right. Just as the sun reached the point in the sky that signified evening was nearing, the two came to a stop at a crest overlooking Whiterun. Nazir shielded his eyes to examine the road beneath them, and saw no one.

"Odd," he mumbled to himself.

"Not really," Agmaer replied, overhearing. "Everyone's afraid of the vampires. They're probably avoiding travel as much as they can."

"Hmm." Nazir lowered his hand and started down the hill they were on. Agmaer followed at a slower speed, carefully picking his way down to the road after the Redguard.

Nazir didn't pause to wait for the Nord as he reached the road, and he continued on towards where Whiterun sat waiting.

The rest of the journey was made in silence, with Agmaer following a few paces behind Nazir on the road. Nazir glanced back only once, and it was because he was sure the Nord was preparing to shoot him with him a crossbow bolt. He wasn't, though, and Nazir faced forward again.

When they reached Whiterun's gates, they were immediately stopped by the Whiterun (Stormcloak?) guard in charge.

"Halt," he said from behind his helmet. Nazir frowned. He was still wearing the customary blue and brown colors of a Stormcloak, but he seemed to be serious about guarding the city. "What is your business in Whiterun?"

"We're here to visit the Dragonborn," Nazir replied.

"What for?" the guard demanded.

"It's personal," Nazir responded, frowning.

The guard's head turned from him to Agmaer, and then back, before he snorted and stepped out of the way of the gate. Nazir glared at him as he pushed open the gates, and led the way into the city.

Agmaer sighed to himself as he stepped inside. "I only came here a few times with my father, to trade our produce for other goods," he said to Nazir as they started to make their way towards the Cloud District. "I've always prefered living on the farm, but I thought Whiterun was incredible, especially Dragonsreach." He looked at Nazir. "Is it true that the Dragonborn caught an actual dragon there?"

"You'll have to ask her yourself," Nazir answered, coming to a stop at the bottom of the set of stairs that led up to Jorrvaskr. He gestured to it. "There it is."

"I never realized that it was a boat," Agmaer commented after a moment, and Nazir let out a brief chuckle.

"The only thing they could build with was something that was already built."

Agmaer laughed, and Nazir started to chuckle again as well. They were both interrupted when a deep voice spoke from behind him: "You want to keep joking, or should I just smash your heads together now?"

Nazir turned around and found who could only be a Companion standing behind him. The big, burly Nord was dressed in civilians' clothing, but the greatsword on his back gave away his warrior status. His comment had given away his barbarian status. Warrior and a barbarian? Definitely a Companion.

"I'll bet you don't know me," Nazir began, "but you know someone I'm associated with."

"The Listener," the Companion grumbled, glaring down at him. "I know Dark Brotherhood colors when I see them, assassin. What are you doing here again?"

 _So Hainin was here._

"Looking for the Dragonborn, actually," Nazir said, smiling pleasantly. "I'll bet Hainin said the same exact thing to you."

"He did," the Companion growled, "and I'll tell you the same thing I told him: she isn't here."

Nazir lost his grin. "Sorry?"

"She isn't here," the Companion said again. "Now get out of our city."

"Farkas, please." Nazir exhaled at the voice that came from behind the Companion, who stepped out of the way as Cry Silverworthy, Dragonborn and Harbinger of the Companions, Thane of all the Holds of Skyrim, walked up the stairs.

Nazir, who'd never found anything pleasing about anyone's appearance, aside from Hainin's, had to admit that Cry's slanted blue-gray eyes and golden hair were an attractive combination. It was no wonder that so many fell to the ground at the sight of her. Nazir's traveling companion looked about ready to be one of those people.

Cry offered Nazir an apologetic smile before glancing at the big Companion. "I've told you before; we don't have to lie to the other factions."

"Sorry," Farkas mumbled, glancing down at her as she stopped in front of him. "I just don't want you to leave again."

Cry smiled and placed a hand against his cheek. "I won't, I promise." She then turned to Nazir, lowering her hands and clasping them in front of her, dipping her head to him. "Speaker."

"Dragonborn," Nazir replied. "How are you?"

"I'm well, thank you," Cry responded. She glanced between him and Agmaer, whose jaw was still on the ground. "How can I help?"

"We're actually looking for Hainin, and the woman he was traveling with," Nazir said to her. "I'd assumed he came to you, after I heard he had an Elder Scroll with him. Do you know where he went?"

Cry's smile faded. "I don't," she admitted quietly. "I'm sorry. He came to me, asked me to read the Elder Scroll. He and the woman were looking for answers about a prophecy of some kind. I told them that they needed two other Elder Scrolls in order to know the whole thing." She blinked. "I assume they went to the College of Winterhold to get the one I told them the location of, but I don't know where they could have gone to get the other."

Nazir sighed to himself, and glanced down at the ground. He knew Hainin's experience with the College, and Winterhold, wasn't the best. If Serana had known where the third Elder Scroll was, Hainin would have opted to get that one first, no question, which meant they could go to Winterhold and wait for the two, or return to Fort Dawnguard empty handed.

Neither sounded appealing.

"Thank you, Cry," Nazir said, looking up at her. "We appreciate it, really."

She shrugged. "The vampires are a threat to all of us. If Hainin and that woman are trying to stop whatever it is they're doing, then it is in the best interest of Skyrim, and that's all I care about."

She glanced up at Farkas, who was standing by her side in a protective position, and then back at Nazir. "I imagine that you've been traveling all day. Would you like to join the Companions for dinner? We can offer you sleeping quarters as well."

"We'd be grateful for that," Agmaer said before Nazir could speak. He must've been able to regain his senses at the prospect of food and a bed. He glanced at Nazir, and then held out his hand. "It's an honor to meet you, miss. I'm Agmaer."

Nazir rolled his eyes to himself as Cry chuckled and shook Agmaer's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Agmaer." The young Nord turned a faint shade of pink, and Cry turned to Nazir. "Come," she said, gesturing towards Jorrvaskr with her head. "Farkas and I were out getting food for dinner. It shouldn't take long for Tilma to cook something."

"Thank you," Nazir said, and then he followed after Cry and Farkas towards the Companions' home, Agmaer hurrying after them.

As soon as they walked into Jorrvaskr, Nazir was hit with a strange wave of homeliness, and he frowned to himself as two males immediately stood up from where they sat at a small table in the corner of the sunken mead hall, and raced over to Cry.

"Harbinger! Athis and I took down _three_ bears today!" the Nord said.

"Torvar's been teaching me how to handle a sword, and I think I'm getting better," Athis, the dark elf that had hurried over to Cry with the Nord, told her.

Cry smiled at them both. "I'm proud of you for working together," she told them. "Did you take the pelts?" Both Companions nodded. "I'll bet you can get a good price for them from Belethor. You should take them before dinner, so the furs won't lose their color."

"Good idea, Harbinger!" Athis said, and then he turned and hurried across the mead hall towards the set of stairs on the right side, Torvar racing after him.

Cry chuckled to herself and shook her head as she led Nazir and Agmaer down into the hall. "Sorry about them," she said. "They think I've forgotten how much work they do for the Companions in the period I've been away." She smiled fondly. "They're good men, both of them."

"We'll have to have a Circle meeting," Farkas suggested. "To talk about our older whelps, and their futures here."

"We'll do that soon," Cry promised, glancing at him. "I just…" Farkas nodded quickly, and Cry gave him a grateful look before gesturing to the long table in the middle of the hall. "Would our guests like to eat here, or at one of the lonely tables in the corners of the room?"

"Funny," Nazir said, settling down in a chair at the edge of the long table. "Right here is fine."

Cry smiled, and walked away from him towards the room on the left side of the hall. She disappeared into it, and then reemerged a moment later with an old woman behind her. The woman took the knapsack Farkas was carrying and walked around the table to the large fire pit before it. Nazir watched as she pulled both fresh meat and produce out of the satchel, and began to prepare dinner.

"Where are Ria and Njada?" Cry asked Farkas.

"On the job that Vilkas and I were supposed to do," Farkas answered.

Cry seemed a bit sheepish at that, and Farkas nudged her with his shoulder before walking away towards the stairs that the two men had disappeared down earlier. As he went down them, the men returned, and dashed out of Jorrvaskr, three pelts in hand.

Cry watched them go with a proud expression, and then sat down in a chair next to Nazir with a heavy sigh. He glanced at her, and she smiled weakly. "I left for a stupid reason, and I regret ever going," she admitted to him. "I'm extremely glad to be back."

"I imagine you don't care to share why you left," Nazir decided, and Cry tilted her head in response, before looking at Agmaer, who was still standing and gazing around the hall in awe.

"You can sit down, Agmaer," she said to him.

"Thank you," he started, "but I'd like to look around, if that's all right, too?"

"Of course," Cry replied, gesturing around the hall. "Look at whatever you like, but be careful. These weapons might be hanging from the wall, but they are still sharp."

Agmaer grinned, and wandered off towards a set of battle axes that were handing up nearby. Nazir shook his head to himself, and Cry raised an eyebrow. "What?" she asked him.

"He's smitten," Nazir explained, nodding towards Agmaer. "Do you think he knows you're married?"

"Oh, stop," Cry sighed. "He's much too young, anyhow." Nazir chuckled, and Cry's eyes brightened as they fixed on something across the room. Nazir turned to see what it was. Farkas had reemerged from downstairs, with two more Companions, a woman with red hair, and a man, who had the same dark hair and gray eyes as Farkas, but was a bit shorter, and sported a layer of dark stubble.

Cry stood and walked over to them, giggling when the shorter male grabbed her around the waist and tipped her back into a kiss. Nazir noticed Farkas and the redhead exchange a content look, and the Redguard couldn't help but smile to himself. It was odd, seeing another group of people act like they were a family, but he could see that the Companions were one, and the head of their family had just returned home. Everyone was happy again, and, oddly enough, Nazir was happy for them.

He wondered if his own Family would have such an ecstatic response when he and Hainin returned. He doubted it, although he knew that Babette and Cicero would be glad to have them home. The other assassins just weren't close enough for that.

Cry was speaking to the other male Companion and the redhead now, and gesturing towards Nazir as she did so. The man looked over at him with furrowed eyebrows, but the redhead seemed relaxed. No doubt she thought herself skilled enough to handle Nazir if he decided to pose a threat, which he had no intention of doing. He was hungry, and looking forward to a full night's sleep, in a real bed. The last thing he wanted to do was make his hosts angry with him.

Cry led the way over to where he was seated, and Nazir rose from his chair to shake hands with the new Companions. "Nazir, Speaker of the Dark Brotherhood, I'd like to introduce you to Aela, and my husband, Vilkas," Cry said to him.

"Good to meet you both," Nazir said to them, shaking their hands. "I apologize for showing up unannounced. It's important we find Hainin and his companion, however."

"It's no trouble," Vilkas told him. "You can tell Hainin that I'm grateful to him." He looked at Cry, smiling a little. "He brought my other half home to me, and I will forever be in his debt."

"Are you sure you want me to tell him that last part?" Nazir queried as Cry snuggled against Vilkas's side. "He will take it seriously."

"As he should," Vilkas replied, glancing up from Cry. "She may have come home on her own, but certainly not as quickly as I would have liked, not without Hainin's help. If he ever needs anything else, if any of the Brotherhood needs anything, the Companions are here to help." He frowned. "Despite our… differences."

Nazir knew what he meant, and chose not to comment. "Thank you," he said instead.

"Oh… where are those boys?" The old woman spoke for the first time, glancing up from the pot over the fire pit. "Dinner is almost finished."

"I'm sure they're almost back, Tilma," Cry assured. "Farkas?"

"I got it," the big Companion responded, jogging away towards the door. He disappeared out into Whiterun, and Aela turned to Nazir.

"Odd," she commented. "You don't know where your Listener has gone?"

Nazir raised an eyebrow. "You didn't know where your Harbinger had gone," he retorted.

That didn't just rock Aela; Vilkas's eyes darkened as well. Cry rested a hand on his chest to calm him down, and then turned a subtle glare towards Aela, who was bristling.

"Why would you say that?" she asked under her breath.

"Because it seems odd that a Speaker of the Dark Brotherhood doesn't know where his Listener has gone," Aela answered, pulling her eyes off of Nazir. "Doesn't it seem strange?"

"It is not our place," Cry told her.

"He came to you for help, and we're feeding him and letting him stay here!"

"Aela." Cry's expression darkened further. "It is not _._ Our. _Place_." The redheaded Companion seemed to bend under her tone, and Cry lifted an eyebrow. "Understand?"

"Yes, _Harbinger_ ," Aela answered, barely looking at her as she stalked away to one of the lonely tables.

Cry sighed to herself, and glanced at Nazir. "I'm sorry," she said to him.

"No, I am," Nazir responded. "I shouldn't have retorted the way I did." _Not knowing when enough is enough… sounds like Hainin to me. He must have rubbed off on me, a bit._

Before Cry could say more, Farkas returned with Torvar and Athis. Just like that, the hall exploded with the sounds of a happy gathering amongst friends and family. Nazir and Agmaer were welcomed at the table by everyone, excluding Aela, who remained at her lonely table, nothing but a mug of mead before her. Cry kept glancing over at her, but Vilkas kept shaking his head and gesturing to her meal instead.

Nazir stayed out of the conversation for the most part, although Agmaer spoke with the Companions as though he had eaten every meal with them for the last three years. He seemed completely comfortable, and Nazir envied him, slightly.

When dinner was over, and while most of the Companions remained upstairs with their mugs of mead and ale, Cry and Vilkas led Nazir and Agmaer downstairs into Jorrvaskr's living quarters. From there, they took them to a room directly across the hall, and gestured to two beds on the right side of the room, which seemed to be the place where lower ranking members of the Companions slept.

"You can use those two beds," Cry told Nazir and Agmaer. "We have extras, because…" She trailed off, and let out a laugh. "Sorry, never mind. You two are probably exhausted. Get some rest."

"Thank you again, Cry," Nazir said to her.

She merely dipped her head in response, and then left the room with Vilkas trailing after her. When they were gone, Nazir turned to Agmaer, who'd already dropped his knapsack near the foot of one of the beds and was sitting down on it. He glanced up when he felt Nazir's gaze.

"I should've considered my options before joining the Dawnguard," he said, beginning to undo the straps on his armor.

"Why's that?" Nazir queried, walking over to the other bed.

"The Companions seem to like one another a lot more than the Dawnguard do," Agmaer replied. "When I left my home, I thought that, maybe, I'd be joining a new family." He laughed quietly. "I was wrong." He then shook head and looked at Nazir again. "Not that I'd be a very good Companions. Gods know I can't wield a weapon."

Nazir frowned to himself. He hadn't known that Agmaer was unhappy with being in the Dawnguard. Maybe the Nord wasn't as bad as he'd thought.

"I'm sure that Cry would be willing to let you join despite that," he said to Agmaer. "Anyone can learn how to use a weapon." He grinned. "Hainin didn't even know how to hold a bow, and now he's the best archer I know."

"I can't just leave the Dawnguard, not while the vampires are still a threat," Agmaer said. He pulled off the armor and set it down by his knapsack. "Maybe… maybe once we take care of them, I'll come back here and ask to join." He smiled to himself. "Maybe I'll be better at swinging a sword by then."

"Maybe," Nazir agreed. "Get some rest, Agmaer."

There was silence as the two pulled off their shoes - Nazir's soft boots and Agmaer's heavy Dawnguard set - and then they both relaxed onto their beds. Nazir stared up at the ceiling, listening to the faint sounds of the Companions on the upper floor.

"Nazir," Agmaer began.

"Hmm?"

"Where are we going to go? Back to Fort Dawnguard, or on to the College?"

Nazir exhaled. "We should head back to the fortress, but I'm worried that, if we don't go to Winterhold instead, we'll miss Hainin entirely."

"If we don't go back to Fort Dawnguard, Isran will be angry," Agmaer said slowly, "but… he might be more angry when we tell him that we know where Hainin went, but didn't go after him." He sighed. "A dilemma."

"Indeed," Nazir agreed.

There was more silence.

"What if…" Agmaer trailed off. "No, never mind."

"Say what you are thinking," Nazir told him. "Any idea is better than none."

"I was going to suggest we send him a letter, to tell him what we found out, but… he might not be happy with that."

Nazir exhaled. "Agmaer, what is more important? Stopping the vampires, or keeping Isran happy?"

Agmaer was quiet for a moment. "I guess stopping the vampires would make Isran happy," he said at last.

"So, it's decided," Nazir said. "We'll send Isran a letter, and go to the College."

"All right," Agmaer agreed after a moment. "I think that's the best choice."

"Good, then." Nazir rolled over onto his side, facing away from Agmaer's bed. "Sleep well."

"You too, Nazir," Agmaer responded, and Nazir heard him roll over as well. Within a few minutes, he could hear soft snoring coming from the other side of the room, and Nazir sighed to himself, doing his best to relax. Knowing where Hainin possibly was made him want to get moving right then, but he also knew that he needed sleep.

Still, sleep evaded him for a good hour or so, until he finally drifted off when the sounds of the Companions on the upper floor faded away.

* * *

 **Editing on an iPad is much easier than editing in a cellphone, but still harder than using an actual computer.**

 **I should just stop being lazy.**


	14. Castle Volkihar's Secrets

**I don't own Elder Scrolls V, only Hainin Marshal.**

 **Also, I'm not gonna lie. I wasn't going to include this part of the Dawnguard play through, but I decided it was necessary because it sstablishes the working together that Hainin comes to terms with in regards to Serana.**

 **Please enjoy.**

* * *

"Gods, this place gives me bad memories," Hainin said with a shiver as he gazed up at Castle Volkihar. Serana finished climbing out of the boat that they had rowed across to the island, and studied the castle with him.

"Definitely not my favorite place my family lived," she admitted, "but it's beautiful, don't you think?" She started to walk away from him, off of the path and around the left side of the island. Hainin remained behind for a moment, snorting.

"Sure, if you don't mind gargoyles and black," he said under his breath.

"Hainin, come on!" Serana called. Hainin shook his head to himself and went after her. He found her a few yards up the beach on the left side of the island, pointing.

"It's just around this bend," she told him, waving her other hand. "Let's go!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Hainin responded, picking up his pace a little as Serana kept moving. He gazed out across the water to his left, frowning at how gray and stormy it looked. He'd never realized it before, but the ocean always looked stormy. And it was always stormy, if his experience in the Emperor's ship could be any indication.

Hainin was getting sick just thinking about it.

He was so focused on the sea that he almost ran right into Serana, who had stopped and was gazing up at the castle again.

"What?" Hainin asked, glancing up as well.

"It just looks so big from down here," Serana responded. She looked at him. "I mean, it is big, but… well… bigger." Hainin raised an eyebrow, and she sighed. "Never mind. Let's keep going."

"Gladly," Hainin said, stepping around her and continuing on up the beach. After a minute of walking, he found himself standing on the edge of an inlet, the one Serana had mentioned. A dock of sorts lined the area, and a stone creation was set in the middle of it all, a waterfall pouring out of the top of it into the inlet itself.

There were also skeletons stalking the dock back and forth, on both sides.

Hainin looked at Serana, who had paused next to him. She raised her shoulders at the look he gave her.

"My father's paranoid. What do you want me to tell you?" She curled one hand into a fist, and it started to glow with an icy blue. Serana glanced at Hainin. "You're not afraid of some skeletons, are you?"

"No, of course not," Hainin answered, pulling his bow off of his back. Serana hurried off to take care of the closest skeletons, and Hainin took aim at the one on the upper level of the dock. He tracked it with his arrow before letting it fly. The arrow hit its mark in the skeleton's exposed spine, and the creature shattered into pieces. Hainin smirked to himself and set to climbing the stairs that would take him up to the level where the skeleton had been.

"Hainin!" Serana called from down below. He glanced down and saw her pointing to a skeleton across the inlet from him, who was taking aim with its own arrow.

"Ooh," Hainin said, reaching for one. He barely rolled out of the way of the skeleton's shot before pulling back his arrow and releasing. It sailed across the inlet and into the skeleton's neck, and Hainin stood up and nodded in satisfaction.

"Nice shot, assassin," Serana said as she started up the stairs.

"Thank you, princess," Hainin replied cheekily. Serana rolled her eyes, and Hainin chuckled and gestured towards the door that led from the inlet into the castle. "That the way in?"

"Should be," Serana said, "unless things changed inside the castle in the thousands of years I've been away." She gave Hainin a look, and he chortled before leading the way towards the door.

Almost as soon as he walked in, there was a skeever making its way towards him. Hainin yelped, and Serana shot an icy dagger out of her palm into the rat's side. She then glanced at Hainin with a raised eyebrow, and he huffed in response.

"Moving on, then."

"Lead the way, _assassin_ ," Serana replied, laughing.

Hainin grumbled out an answer, and walked down the short hallway to the large wooden doors at the other end. Pushing them open, he froze when he saw the three death hounds stalking the waterway on the other side, and he glanced over at Serana.

"When was the last time someone's been down here?" he whispered.

"You think I know?" Serana retorted, her hands glowing. "They're only death hounds. They shouldn't want to attack us anyhow."

There was a feral screech from the walkway, and Hainin gestured to the hairless vampire that was suddenly sprinting towards them, the death hounds behind it. "You sure about that, _princess_?" he inquired, before pulling out his daggers and throwing both at the same time.

One hit it's mark in the vampire's chest, while the other got one of the hounds on the muzzle. The vampire collapsed to the floor, causing the death hounds to trip over it and go sliding across the slippery walkway. Serana took advantage of this, and hit all three with individual ice shards.

When they were all dead, she lowered her hands. "See?" she asked. "No big deal."

Hainin shook his head and retrieved his daggers before continuing on. He crossed the first bridge over the waterway, and found a set of stairs that led up to a balcony of sorts. He pulled it, and watched a walkway fall down between two stone pillars, with open archways on either side.

He retreated back down the stairs and headed in that direction. When he reached them, Serana spoke up from behind: "Take a left up here. This is one of those weird, double-barred security measures my father put in when he started to get paranoid."

"You really should have gotten him a hobby," Hainin responded, doing as she said. He rounded a corner, and found a skeleton waiting for him, with another just behind. Thankfully, they didn't notice the two of them, and Hainin was able to put them both down with two shots from his bow. After retrieving his arrows, they continued on down the hall, and found a room at the other end, full of bone piles.

"Why in the Gods' names do you need a room of bones?" Hainin asked Serana.

"For those," she replied, and then shot a spark of lightning out of her palm. Hainin turned around in time to see it hit a death hound, which whimpered as it fell to the floor. Another appeared, and Hainin swung at it with his dagger, slicing its throat open.

"These things are not natural," he informed Serana, who shrugged.

"Neither are vampires."

Hainin had to give her that.

The made their way around the piles of bones to a set of stairs, which Hainin climbed to reach a second lever. He pulled it, and Serana waved him back down.

She took the lead this time, and led the way back to the wooden bridge. She headed to the right archway this time, and gestured towards the spiderweb that blocked the way.

"Can you take care of this?" she asked him.

"Don't you have a flame spell or something?" Hainin asked her, pulling out his dagger.

"I'm a vampire, Hainin."

"So?"

Serana didn't reply, and Hainin sliced through the spiderweb. Another was waiting for him, and when he got through that one as well, he froze.

"Uh…"

"Oh, please," Serana sighed, and then blasted the giant spider in the room on the other side with a bolt of purple lightning. It wasn't enough, and Hainin quickly threw his dagger into it as well. That _was_ enough, and the spider collapsed to the floor, revealing the lever that was behind it.

Hainin crossed the room to retrieve his dagger and pull the lever, and then he followed Serana back out into the wooden bridge room. A second bridge had fallen, and had opened up an archway on the north side of the room. The two of them crossed over it to get through. A set of stairs waited for them on the other side.

"These should lead to the courtyard door," Serana told Hainin, taking the lead. "Come on."

Hainin followed her up the stairs, and indeed, a door was waiting for them at the top of it. As soon as she opened the door, Serana's entire posture changed, and she quietly said, "Oh, no…"

She hurried out into the courtyard, and Hainin followed, closing the door behind him. He turned around to face the courtyard as well, and blinked.

It was… well, dead. It was dark and gloomy, and the plants that had once grown there were all now brown and wilted. In short, the entire courtyard was very sad and dark.

When he looked at Serana, he saw that she was sad, too.

"What happened to this place?" she asked herself, and then she glanced at Hainin. "Everything's been torn down. It looks…. Well, dead. It's like we're the first to set foot here in centuries."

"We probably are," Hainin responded, watching as Serana walked up a set of stairs to the left of the door that had led into the courtyard. The stairs she climbed led up to a balcony, and a door that had been blocked off by rubble.

"This used to lead into the castle's great hall. It looks like my father had it sealed up." Serana called down to Hainin as he stopped at the foot of the stairs. She turned around and looked out over the courtyard. "I used to walk through here after evening meals. It was beautiful, once."

She walked down the set of stairs on the other side of the balcony and hurried across the courtyard to the plot of ground that was fenced off. Aside from the nightshade growing there, all the other plants were dead.

"This was my mother's garden," Serana told Hainin, who stopped next to her. "It…" She glanced at him. "Do you know how beautiful something can be when it's tended to by a master for hundreds of years?"

"Well, no," Hainin responded. "I'm only twenty seven years myself."

Serana didn't even crack a smile. "She would have hated to see it like this," she murmured, and then turned away from the garden to face the dial in the middle of the courtyard, which she had yet to address. "Wait…"

Hainin followed her over to it, and Serana frowned, putting a hand on her hip. "Something's wrong with the moondial," she told him. "Some of the crests are missing, and the dial is askew. I didn't even know the crests could be removed." She shook her head to herself. "Maybe my mother is trying to tell us something?"

Hainin exhaled, and crossed back over to the sad garden, wondering if Babette could use more nightshade. He doubted it.

As he studied the plants, however, something glinted from the corner of the garden, and Hainin frowned. He stepped into the fenced off area, and picked up the thing that had shined into his eyes. It appeared to be one of the crests from the moondial.

"Serana!" he called, turning around and showing it to her.

Serana blinked. "Maybe there's more of them," she said, turning and crossing the courtyard to peer into more underbrush.

Hainin himself glanced up, and decided to look on the balcony over the garden. He climbed the stairs, cradling the first dial he'd found carefully in his hands, and found another one as soon as he reached the balcony.

"Got another one!" he said to Serana, who had walked over to the mossy pond Hainin had noticed before.

"Me too!" she said, sounding pleased with herself as she held it up. She returned to the moondial, glancing between the crest she was holding, and the ones on the ground. After walking around it for a moment, Serana bent down and placed the moondial she had found.

Hainin returned to her, and Serana took the two he was holding, and placed them as well. As she set down the one signifying the full moon, the moondial turned, and the stone around the dial itself started to slide away into the ground, forming a set of stairs.

"Very clever, Mother," Serana said to herself. "Very clever." She gestured to the stairs, and looked at Hainin. "I've never been down there, but I bet this runs right under the courtyard into the tower ruins. At least we're getting closer. Let's go."

Hainin rotated around as she started down the stairs. " _Which_ tower?" he grumbled, glancing up at the many towers surrounding the courtyard.

"Hainin!" Serana called to him.

"Yeah, I'm coming," he sighed, and started down the stairs after her. "Which tower?" he asked her when he'd reached where she'd stopped in front of a door at the foot of the stairs.

"My mother must have had a secret place, just to herself," Serana explained. "I'll bet that's where we're going."

Hainin exhaled. "Sure," he said after a moment. "I'll agree with you."

He opened the door, and the two of them crammed into the small room on the other side. Hainin pressed himself against the way opposite the door they'd come through, and glared at Serana.

"Secret place, huh?" he asked her.

Serana merely glared back, and pulled a lever that was hanging on the wall to her left. Almost at once, Hainin fell backwards as the wall behind him disappeared, letting out a groan as he did so. He fell right into a pile of dried blood, and he grunted, pulling himself back to his feet.

"What in Sithis's blood is _this_ room supposed to be?" he demanded, frowning at the pile of meat and bones on the wooden table against one wall.

Serana ignored him, and led the way around the table to the stairs on the other side.

"Be careful," she said to Hainin, who stumbled over a bucket. "I don't know what might be around."

"Thank you," Hainin muttered, following her up the stairs. "That invokes so much hope inside me."

The stairs led them up to a door, which Hainin pushed open. It revealed a dining hall of sorts, complete with a table of skeletons that were very clearly going to awaken as soon as they walked into the room.

He looked at Serana. "How would you like to deal with this, princess?" he asked her.

"Would you stop calling me that?" Serana demanded, her voice echoing around the stone walls of the room. Almost immediately, the five skeletons seated at the table began to reanimate, and she glanced at Hainin before rushing into the room to deal with them.

Hainin followed after her, shaking his head to himself, and used his daggers to take down three while Serana dealt with the other two. When they were all dead, the two companions exchanged looks.

"Don't say anything," Serana muttered, turning away and stalking up the set of stairs that helped them continue forward.

Hainin smiled to himself, and leaned down to examine one of the skeletons. Nothing but bone, and the rusty sword it had been using. Oh well.

"Hainin!" Serana's screech from the upper floor caused him to jump, and he quickly hurried up the stairs as well, finding Serana cornered against a wall in the room at the top, a gargoyle doing its best to claw at her.

Hainin immediately pulled his bow off of his back and shot the gargoyle. His arrow hit it in the shoulder, and the beast turned around with a furious growl.

"Hey, ugly," Hainin said to it, pulling back another arrow. "Come at me."

The gargoyle charged, and Hainin let his arrow fly. It sank right into the gargoyle's eye, and the beast thudded to the ground, sliding a distance to Hainin's feet. He bent down and retrieved his arrow, before looking up at Serana, who had moved away from the wall.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Yes, thank you," she said to him. "I didn't expect it to come to life."

"Guess you're lucky you aren't by yourself," Hainin replied, and Serana smiled.

"I am," she agreed, and then gestured for him to follow her.

The room on the other side of the wooden door she opened led out onto some stairs, and to some more skeletons. These were much easier to deal with than a gargoyle, and Serana took them both down with a single ice shard from her hand. Waiting at the top of the stairs for them was another gargoyle.

"I got this one," Serana told Hainin, and he put up his hands and backed away a few paces to watch.

She approached the statue of the beast, which had yet to react to their presence. As soon as she got closer, however, the stone around it shattered, and the gargoyle emerged, howling. As soon as it was no longer encased in stone, Serana gave it two quick strikes with lighting. The gargoyle howled again, and collapsed.

Serana looked over at Hainin, who clapped in approval. "Very good."

"Thank you," Serana replied, bowing. She then gestured for him to follow with her head, and Hainin did so, trailing after her around the corner and up more stairs, which led to another room with skeletons on the lower section, and a few on the opposite balcony. Hainin shot those two down, while Serana took care of the ones on the lower level. The two of them crossed to the stairs that led to the second balcony, and Hainin retrieved his arrows before following Serana to the stairs on the other side.

They took those ones two at a time, and Hainin flinched when he saw the gargoyle across the room, sitting on a pedestal in front of a pull chain.

He glanced to his left, and saw the gate that was sure to open when he pulled it, as well as the pull chain that would close it when they crossed through. He gestured to the second one, and Serana frowned, but nodded, understanding.

Hainin nodded back, and slowly crept towards the gargoyle in front of the pull chain. Swallowing, he sidled up next to it, and pulled the chain down. Almost at once, the gargoyle started to awaken, and Hainin turned tail and ran back towards Serana, who quickly darted through the now open gate, and placed her hand on the second pull chain.

"Pull it!" he shouted to her, aware of the gargoyle right on his heels.

Serana did as he said, and Hainin dove underneath the gate just before it fell, rolling as he hit the ground, and coming up on his knees again. The gargoyle ran right into the gate, growling, and Hainin let out a weak laugh before staggering to his feet.

"Good teamwork," he said to Serana, setting a hand on her shoulder to support his weight, because his knees felt very weak.

"That was a nice roll," she responded, chuckling. "You all right?"

"Oh, yeah," Hainin answered, blinking a few times. "Definitely. Let's keep moving."

After climbing up another set of stairs and killing off a skeleton and another gargoyle, the two of them found themselves in what looked to Hainin like a throne room. Two skeletons waited on balconies on either side of the room, which Hainin took down with two shots of his bow. Serana helped by taking care of the three that were on the same level as them.

Together, the two of them crossed the room and went up more stairs. Stairs led to another door, which led to even more stairs and another door.

"When will this end?" Hainin asked as he threw the door open. In response, he found himself face to face with giant double doors, a sure sign they were nearing the room they were looking for. Too happy to say anything, Hainin darted over to the doors and threw them open, and regretted it almost immediately. Two gargoyles were waiting on the other side of the doors.

"Serana?" Hainin asked weakly, diving away from the doors and behind a pile of rubble, preparing an arrow as soon as he could. He listened as Serana fired some lighting, and as one of the gargoyles snarled in response. Hainin reemerged from behind the rubble and shot the gargoyle that Serana wasn't dealing with. His arrow embedded itself in the beast's shoulder, which only made the gargoyle more angry. It turned away from Serana and rushed towards Hainin instead, who rolled back behind the rubble. The gargoyle ran head first into it, and let out a weak groan. Hainin opened his eyes, which he had squeezed shut, as silence fell.

He stepped out from behind the rubble, and let out a yelp when he came face to face with… Serana.

She lifted an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "You good?" she queried, smiling.

Hainin let out a grunt and crossed his own arms. "Are you?"

Serana nodded, and held up a ruby. "The one I fought had this. Kind of pretty, don't you think?"

"Yes," Hainin replied, lowering his arms. "Let's keep going, huh?"

He turned and led the way back towards the room the two gargoyles had come out of. The room had two other statues, both that were still statues, and a set of coffins in the corner. A fireplace sat across from the door. There were no other ways out.

"Blast," Hainin sighed, glancing over at Serana as she stepped into the room. "What now?"

Serana shook her head and walked over to the coffins. "There has to be something…"

Hainin watched her for a moment, and then he went over to the fireplace. Examining it, he placed one hand on the stone and another on one of the candle holders attached to it. It seemed loose.

Frowning to himself, Hainin tilted the candle holder. Almost at once, the fireplace separated into two pieces, and one disappeared upwards while the other went into the floor. Hainin smiled to himself, and looked at Serana.

"Leave it to my mother," she sighed, "always smarter than I gave her credit for."

"Your mother?" Hainin asked as Serana started up the stairs the fireplace had been hiding. "What about me?"

"You're smarter than I give you credit for, too," she responded, not looking back.

That was good enough for Hainin. He followed her up the many different flights to a door, which Serana pushed open. Hainin stepped through first, and almost stumbled down the stairs on the other side, which lead down into a big room, complete with a second story and a giant circle in the middle of the floor. Bookshelves lined one wall to his right, and tables littered with different alchemic ingredients dotted the whole room.

"Look at this place," Serana said, walking around Hainin. "This must be it." She went over to one of the tables. "I knew she was deep into necromancy, I mean, she taught me everything I know. But I had no idea she had a setup like this." She gestured to the ingredients on the table. "Look at all this. She must have spent years collecting all these components." She turned away from the table. "And what's this thing?" She gestured to the circle on the floor. "I'm not sure what this is exactly, but it must be something."

She turned to Hainin again, who was waiting for instructions. "Let's take a look around. There has to be something here that tells us where she's gone."

"What should we be looking for?" Hainin asked her.

"My mother was meticulous about her research," Serana answered. "If we can find her notes, there might be some hints in there."

"So, a journal or something?" Hainin asked, glancing at the bookshelves.

"That might be a good place to start," Serana agreed.

Hainin nodded, and crossed over to the bookshelves to pick through them and try to find Valerica's journal. As he did so, he glanced back at Serana, who had walked over to examine another table. "So… she never let you in on this place, huh?" he queried.

"I didn't even know it existed," Serana answered. "She had an alchemy set up in her drawing room, but nothing that comes close to what's here."

"And she researched necromancy?" Hainin inquired, remembering Festus and feeling an arrow of sadness go through him.

"That's what it looks like, though I'm not sure why. Not longevity, that's for sure. Sort of a waste of time for our kind." She paused and glanced over at Hainin. "My kind."

Hainin wasn't listening. He'd found a leather-bound journal, and he opened it to the middle. The entry he found was dated as 27th Last Seed, and it mentioned Harkon and the prophecy, but nothing about where Valerica had gone. The next entry was for the following day, and it mentioned a breakthrough. She'd opened a portal into the Soul Cairn, but only for a few moments. She said that she needed to get it open for longer, if she wanted to get away from Harkon, forever if necessary.

Sighing, Hainin closed the journal, deciding the rest was for Serana's eyes only. He turned away from the bookshelves and carried the journal over to where she stood next to one of the tables.

"I found it," he told her.

"Really? Let me see," Serana said, taking the journal from him. She opened it to the same page he had, and began to read through the writing there, frowning to herself as she turned the pages.

Hainin let her read it for a minute, and then he spoke: "There's mention of a Soul Cairn."

"I only know what she told me," Serana said, glancing up from the journal. "She had a theory about soul gems, that the souls inside them don't vanish when they're used… they end up in the Soul Cairn."

"Why did she care about where the souls went?" Hainin asked, frowning.

"The Soul Cairn is home to very powerful beings. Necromancers send them souls, and receive powers of their own in return. My mother spent a lot of time trying to contact them directly, to travel to the Soul Cairn herself," Serana explained, looking back down at the journal.

"So… if she made it there, that's where we'll find her?" Hainin guessed.

Serana nodded. "The circle in the center of the room must be the portal she mentions here. If I'm reading this right, the formula here should give us safe passage into the Soul Cairn. We need some soul gem shards, some finely-ground bone meal, and a bit of purified void salts. Everything should be here in the lab…" She trailed off, and then cursed to herself. "Dammit."

"What's wrong?" Hainin asked, prepared to give up their quest entirely.

"We'll need a sample of her blood," Serana explained. "Which… if we could get that, we wouldn't be trying to do this at all."

Hainin tilted his head. "You're her daughter."

Serana thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "Not bad. We'll have to hope it's good enough. Mistakes with portals like these can be… gruesome."

"Lovely," Hainin sighed, and then walked away to find the ingredients they needed. Together, he and Serana found the shards, the bone meal, and the void salts, and they reconvened up on the second floor, where Serana put all of the ingredients they'd found into the dish waiting there.

She then looked at him. "Are you sure you're ready to go? I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen when I add my blood."

Hainin glanced at her. "Can I ask you something first?"

"Sure, what is it?" Serana inquired, placing a hand on her hip.

"What happens when we find your mother?" The question had been bothering him since she'd first mentioned Valerica.

Serana exhaled. "I've been asking myself the same question since we came to the castle. She was so sure of what we did to my father, I couldn't help but go along with her." The vampire glanced downwards. "I never thought of the cost."

Hainin considered that, and then shook his head. "I can't say I know what she was thinking," he said.

"Neither can I," Serana responded. "She always seemed happy, before we heard the prophecy. Then it all changed. She became a different person. They both did."

"Guess we won't know anything more until we find her," Hainin said after a moment.

"Yes… yes, you're right." Serana looked up again. "Sorry. I just didn't expect anyone to care how I felt about her." She smiled. "Thank you. Are we ready now?"

Hainin glanced from the dish to the circle on the floor, and then at Serana. If he was being honest, he was afraid. The Soul Cairn must be a part of the Oblivion, and he didn't want to go there so soon. What if they couldn't return? He'd be leaving behind everything, and everyone he cared about, and they'd no longer be able to stop Harkon from completing the prophecy.

And yet, they had no other choice, did they? It was go into the Soul Cairn to find Valerica, or try to figure out what the first Elder Scroll had meant by mentioning a bow. And Hainin honestly had no ideas.

"All right," he said. "Let's get that portal open."

Serana raised her wrist. "Here goes." She bit into it, and let a few drops of blood spatter onto the ingredients in the dish before withdrawing her arm. The room started to shake, and the circle in the center of the room began to glow purple. The different sections began to rise, and slide together before the balcony, forming a set of stairs down into what was left, which was a giant, purple portal in the ground.

"By the blood of my ancestors…" Serana said, blinking. "She actually did it… created a portal to the Soul Cairn. Incredible." She then let out a laugh and glanced at Hainin. "We're lucky you're already a vampire."

"Why's that?" Hainin asked, not seeing anything lucky about it.

"Humans can't enter the Soul Cairn without getting their soul sucked out of them as a sort of… payment. We avoided that." Serana gestured to the portal. "You don't have a soul to get sucked out of you."

"Well, goody," Hainin grumbled. "What amazing luck we have."

Serana reached over and touched his shoulder, and Hainin glanced at her. "Soon, Hainin," she said quietly. "I promise."

Hainin exhaled. "Yeah, I know," he answered. "Sorry. Let's go."

He started down the stairs towards the portal, and hesitated. Glancing back at Serana, he recognized grim determination on her face, and he nodded to himself before turning back around, and stepping right into the portal.

* * *

 **And on Sunday we'll return to Nazir and Agmaer! See you then, friends!**


	15. Easier With a Stranger

**I don't own Elder Scrolls V, only Hainin Marshal.**

* * *

Neither Redguard nor Nord were shivering as they made their way from the top of a snowy hill down the road into Winterhold. The College waited for them in the distance across its poorly maintained bridge, and Nazir was ready to see Hainin there when they reached it.

"Nazir, it's getting pretty dark," Agmaer said, glancing up at the sky.

"Don't worry," Nazir told him. "We're almost there."

He'd gotten used to having Agmaer travelling with him. The Nord was pleasant, and he had a good head on his shoulders. Nazir appreciated that, and he appreciated how Agmaer seemed to know when he wanted to talk, and when he didn't.

On their journey to Winterhold, Agmaer had told him about his family. He had a younger brother and sister, and his mother had died during childbirth of the two, who were twins.

Nazir thought back to that conversation, which had taken place early morning on the second day of their journey.

 _"Do you miss your mother?"_

 _"Oh yes, I do. What about your parents, Nazir?"_

 _"My parents?"_

 _"Yes. Are they still in Hammerfell, or… were you born here, or…?"_

 _"No, I'm from Hammerfell. I uh… well."_

 _"You don't need to tell me."_

 _"No, I think I should. You know by now that I'm an assassin of the Dark Brotherhood."_

 _"Right, that's what the Dragonborn said."_

 _"Yes. And… the first person I ever killed was my father."_

 _"Oh! Really?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"... why?"_

 _"Because my father killed my mother. More or less. He drove her to killing herself."_

 _"I'm sorry."_

 _"It's fine. He paid for it."_

Oddly enough, Agmaer hadn't seemed to be disturbed by the idea of Nazir killing his own father. In fact, he'd seemed… impressed? Nazir doubted that was the right word for what Agmaer had been, but he definitely hadn't been disturbed.

And that impressed Nazir.

All in all, any plan he'd had to kill Agmaer for getting in the way was no longer an option. Nazir liked the young Nord, and he appreciated that Agmaer seemed to be willing to do whatever Nazir thought was the best choice.

The two of them made their way down the rest of the hill and into Winterhold. They found the same sad city Nazir remembered it being, and didn't bother stopping at any of the buildings. Instead, they continued right down the road and straight on too the steps leading up to the bridge.

Thankfully, there was no one there to stop them, and the two were able to go on straight to the College itself, finding the big wrought iron gate was already open.

"So… we're looking for the Arcanium," Nazir said, glancing around the circular courtyard at all the buildings. He shrugged to himself and gestured to the biggest one, across the way. "Let's just start with that building, I guess."

That's exactly what they did, and no one questioned them. Inside the building Nazir had chosen, they took the first door to their right, and it led them downstairs into… the Arcanium.

"That was a great guess," Agmaer said, glancing around the big library.

"It seems so," Nazir agreed. He crossed the library to the desk on the opposite side, where a tall Orc stood, hands on the desk top. "Hello," Nazir greeted.

"Hey!" the Orc exclaimed, his gaze fixed over Nazir's head. Nazir glanced over his shoulder.

Agmaer had bent over to pick up a book that was sitting on a table next to one of the chairs in the center of the library.

The Orc pointed at him. "Do not touch my books with your grubby hands!"

"Sorry, sorry," Agmaer said hurriedly, backing away from the table into one of the standing bookshelves, making it rattle. The Nord winced and glanced at the Orc. "Sorry."

The Orc rolled his eyes, and turned back to Nazir. "What can I do for you?" he queried.

"We were wondering if a dark haired Imperial has come through your library lately, in the company of a Nord woman?"

The Orc thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head. "No, I haven't had any outsiders in the Arcanium since the Dragonborn came here over a year ago."

Nazir's hopes fell. He glanced down at the floor of the Arcanium, wondering what he was supposed to do now. If Hainin hadn't come through the College yet, who knew where he could be. It had been three days since Nazir and Agmaer had been in Whiterun, and Hainin must have seen the Dragonborn at least a week prior to that.

Where was he?

"Sir?" the Orc asked him, and Nazir raised his head.

"Apologies. I was just hoping that you knew something," he said. "Before we go, however, I have to ask about the Elder Scroll you have in your possession."

"What about it?" the Orc inquired, his eyes narrowing immediately in suspicion.

"My friend and I need it," Nazir answered, and then he reached into his robes and pulled out a satchel of gold. He dropped it on the desk. "1000 gold coins."

"I paid the Dragonborn 2000 for it."

"And this is the borrowing fee," Nazir retorted, pushing the coin purse forward. "Please." The Orc wasn't budging, however, and Nazir sighed. He reached into his robes again, and pulled out a second, smaller coin purse. "1500?"

The Orc frowned to himself, and then he sighed. "What do you need it for?"

"To stop the vampires."

The Orc frowned. "Are you Dawnguard?"

Nazir sighed again. "Yes."

"Why didn't you say so before?" The Orc walked away towards the secured bookshelf behind him, and undid the locks on it before opening the door. He pulled out the Elder Scroll, which Nazir had noticed when he'd walked up to the desk.

The Orc turned around and brought it over to Nazir. "I'll let you use this for 500 gold," he said, "but if anything happens to it -"

"Understood," Nazir said before he could finish, taking his bigger coin purse back and and then grabbing the Elder Scroll. "We'll bring it back as soon as we can."

"You'd better." The Orc watched as Nazir walked back across the Arcanium, grabbing Agmaer by the arm as he did so and pulling him up the stairs, and then out of the College building.

"Put this in your knapsack," Nazir ordered, handing the Elder Scroll to Agmaer, who blinked down at it.

"Is this -?"

"Yes. Put it in your bag," Nazir repeated, glancing over his shoulder.

"What about Hainin and Serana?" Agmaer asked, doing as Nazir said and carefully sliding the Elder Scroll into his knapsack.

"They haven't been here," Nazir answered, his voice low.

Agmaer straightened up, and gave Nazir a sad look. "I'm sorry," he said. "Do you think they're okay?"

"I hope so," Nazir replied. He shook his head. "Never mind. We have one of the Elder Scrolls. If they do come through here, they'll hear that we took it, and know where to find us."

"So, we're going back to Fort Dawnguard?" Agmaer asked as Nazir started to walk back towards the bridge.

"Yes," Nazir said. _Even though I don't want to._

"All right," Agmaer responded, "if that's what you think we should do."

 _Not really, but we have the Elder Scroll now, so we don't have much choice._

"Let's go," Nazir said, and he continued on over the bridge back to Winterhold.

When they reached the city, Nazir went and purchased them a carriage for the following morning, and then he led Agmaer into Winterhold's inn, The Frozen Hearth. He purchased them a room, and then they sat down at a table together to eat some of the hot stew the inn had available.

"Sorry that Hainin and Serana haven't come here yet," Agmaer said during the meal. "I know you really want to find them, because you're worried."

Nazir set down the spoon he was using and pushed his bowl away. "It's not your fault," he told Agmaer, standing up from the table. "I'm going to bed."

Agmaer followed after him more quickly than Nazir would have thought. He closed the door to their room behind him and leaned back against it, with his arms crossed.

"You don't have to keep it hidden, you know," he told Nazir, who was sitting down on his bed and pulling off his boots.

"Keep what hidden?" Nazir grumbled, yanking off his right boot so hard that it flew a few inches across the room.

"The real reason you're worried," Agmaer answered. "You love Hainin, right? As… more than a friend, or fellow assassin."

Nazir scoffed. "I haven't told _Hainin_ himself that I love him. Do you think I would tell you, even if I did?"

"Maybe you didn't realize it until now, after you've been separated for so long." Nazir scoffed again, and Agmaer walked towards him. "You told me that you killed your own father, but you're afraid to say aloud that you prefer the company of men."

"It isn't men," Nazir said after a moment. "It's… it's just Hainin." Agmaer frowned at that, and Nazir sighed. "It's complicated."

"You need to open up about it to someone," Agmaer said. "Otherwise, it'll kill you from the inside." He held out his arms. "Why not tell the Nord you'll never see again once we're done with all this?"

"I barely know you."

"Maybe that's a good thing." Nazir shook his head, and Agmaer sighed to himself. "Fine, keep it locked away. It's only going to do you bad, and make you even grumpier than you already are."

"I'm not grumpy," Nazir grumbled, flopping down on the bed he'd chosen. "Go to sleep, Nord."

Agmaer gazed down at the Redguard for a moment, and then he shook his head and walked over to the other bed and sat down on it. Nazir blinked open one eye and watched the Nord peel off his own boots, and then the heavy cuirass of his armor. When it was on the floor, Agmaer leaned over and blew out the candle, and then settled down on his own bed, underneath the blanket. He rolled over so that he was facing away from Nazir.

The Redguard started to roll over as well, and then stopped, wondering if maybe Agmaer had a point. He knew he needed to talk about it, eventually, and since he had refused to say anything to Hainin, a stranger might be the easier choice.

Grunting, Nazir sat up in bed, and waited. Only a minute passed before Agmaer rolled over and blinked at him through the darkness of their room.

"I've never experienced feelings like the ones I have for Hainin before Hainin," Nazir started. "I didn't know what they were, or why they were suddenly all I could feel whenever I was around him, but there they were. One night, at the Sanctuary, we'd all been drinking, and Hainin and I shared a kiss, and it was as though the world had become more colorful, Agmaer. I couldn't think straight after it was over, and I felt like Hainin knew it, too, because he was careful around me afterwards. Until… I kissed him again."

Agmaer was still gazing at him, and Nazir shook his head to himself. "I know it must sound ridiculous, but… I feel like Hainin is… who I'm supposed to be with."

"That's fair," Agmaer said, speaking for the first time. "I understand why, and maybe you're right. In which case, you have every right to be worried about Hainin's whereabouts, and whether or not he's all right." The Nord sat up as well. "Are you sure you want to go back to Fort Dawnguard right away? Maybe we could wait for them here for a few days, and see if they show up."

Nazir glanced at him. "You'd be willing to do that?" he asked.

"Of course," Agmaer replied. "I've never been in love, but… I imagine you're wanting to tear your way across Skyrim, and to Oblivion if necessary, to find Hainin. And that can't be a good feeling."

Nazir actually smiled, and chuckled a bit. "You're right," he said. "It's not a good feeling." He tilted his head. "Why aren't you calling me terrible names or wanting to beat me and leave me for dead in the streets, like most Nords?"

"Because, while I may have grown up on a farm in Whiterun, I was raised to have an open mind," Agmaer replied. "People can do what they like, love who they want to love. It's not my place to tell them what's what, and no one should think it's their place, either."

"You're very wise, Agmaer," Nazir told him. "I think the Companions would be lucky to have you."

"Really?" Agmaer asked hopefully.

"Yes," Nazir responded. "Thank you for letting me speak with you about this. You were right; it's easier with a stranger." _It's going to be a lot more difficult with who it actually concerns._

* * *

 **Yes, I realize this one is incredibly short compared to the others, but believe me, Tuesday's 7,129 words will make up for it.  
**

 **Sort of. It's canon stuff. But it's a long chapter! Filled with... Hainin and Serana and their adventures in the Soul Cairn!**

 **Just stick with me, all right? The chapter after that is worth it, I promise.**

 **Thanks.**


	16. The Soul Cairn

**I don't own Elder Scrolls V.**

 **I'm also terrible about sticking with an update schedule. My apologies.**

* * *

Hainin awoke on a hard surface, and he groaned as he reached back behind his head and rubbed at the sore spot there. He then slowly sat up, and opened his eyes. He found himself in what he could only describe as a pale purple wasteland.

He was lying on a set of stones stairs similar to the ones that had led into the portal, and he saw Serana laying on one a few steps above him, shifting in her still unconscious state. At the bottom of the stairs awaited a path, something Hainin decided they would not be straying from on their visit to the Soul Cairn.

He reached up and nudged Serana until she let out a disgruntled noise and started to awaken. Hainin then stood up to better take in his new surroundings.

Dead trees and underbrush were all around, as were ruins of what could have once been towers. Lighting flashed every few minutes, and was immediately followed by a crash of thunder each time. Hainin felt very dizzy, and he had already spotted one of the souls that Valerica had hypothesized would end up here.

Leaving Serana to gain her bearings, Hainin made his way down the stairs and towards the ghostly purple figure.

"Hey," he began, trying to get the soul's attention. "Hey!"

The soul turned around to face him. "Get out while you can," it said, and then it disappeared into a poof.

Hainin blinked. "All right," he said weakly.

"My mother is here." He turned to find that Serana had followed him down the stairs. She shook her head. "She's here; I can feel it."

Hainin blinked a few more times, trying to push the dizzy feeling out of his head. "Then we'd better start looking for her." He gestured to the path. "I guess we should just start following this, and see where it takes us."

He started to walk down the path, away from the stairs, with Serana close by his side.

As lighting flashed and thunder crashed, and purple orbs floated and flitted about like birds, Hainin and Serana walked down the path, passing countless purple souls, some who were angry, some who were sad, and some who had completely lost their minds.

"What do you know about this place?" Hainin asked Serana as they walked.

"Just what my mother told me," Serana answered. "I've also studied a little bit on my own, but there's not much. When something is trapped in a soul gem, and then the energy is used to powering an enchantment, the remnants are sent here."

Hainin frowned as he considered all the times he'd used a soul gem to refill the enchantment on the dagger Astrid had given him. "Any soul gem?"

"Well, I think it's specifically the black ones. I don't know if the Soul Cairn takes just any leftovers," Serana answered, which made Hainin feel a little bit better.

He winced when he saw a pile of bones on the side of the path a distance away. "Does anything live here?" he asked.

"Look at this place," Serana said, holding out her arms towards the vast expanse. "Do you think anything would want to live here? The only things that can survive here are the Ideal Masters, the Undead, and the souls themselves. Well, if you want to call that living."

"And you're sure Valerica has the Elder Scroll?" Hainin asked over another thunderous boom.

"No, but there's no way she would have left it in Tamriel," Serana said. "She wanted to get it as far away from my father as possible." Serana glanced around. "I can't imagine a better place."

"What if she doesn't have it?"

"Then we find out where she hid it. If she's still alive… well, as alive as she was before. Or is now, or… you know what I mean!" Serana exclaimed.

"Why didn't she just hide it here and return to Tamriel?" Hainin queried, almost to himself.

"Probably to avoid whatever my father would do to her if he could get his hands on her." Serana slowed to a halt. "Or maybe her plan was to come back, but she was stuck here. We won't know until we find her."

"Why did you stop?" Hainin asked her.

She nodded towards the pile of bones he'd spotted before, which were now right next to them. Hainin blinked as black skeleton creatures pulled themselves out of the piles and staggered towards the two companions. He pulled his bow off his back and quickly shot one arrow right after the other, killing both of the skeletons before they could reach him and Serana.

"What in the Void were those?" he asked her.

"Bonemen," Serana answered. "I've read about them."

"Bonemen," Hainin repeated, putting his bow away. "Great."

Serana had already started down the path again, and Hainin had to jog to catch up with her. "Do you think we'll run into these… Ideal Masters you mentioned before?" he asked her.

"I don't think anyone's ever met the Ideal Masters. I'm not even sure anyone knows what they look like." Serana shook her head. "They could be underground, flying above us… they might _be_ the ground. I have no idea."

Hainin glanced down at the path, feeling warier by the second. "Why are they collecting these souls?" he questioned, watching as one ran into a ruin and disappeared.

"Lots of theories," Serana answered. "Some say they feed on them like vampires feed on blood. Others think they use them as payment to an even higher power… almost like a currency. A very strange currency. Whatever they're doing with them, they've been harvesting them for millennia. No telling how many souls are trapped here."

"Why would a necromancer even want to deal with them?"

"Look around you," Serana said, gesturing back down the path towards the pile of bones and the remains of the bonemen. "There are some extremely powerful undead here. Even a necromancer as seasoned as my mother would be willing to spend years trying to gain access to them."

"Summon them, you mean," Hainin said.

"Exactly. It's a lost art. Most necromancers just raise up whatever bodies are nearby." Serana chuckled. "A simple trick, really. Child's play."

Hainin looked over at her in shock. "What kind of scary children do you know?"

"Very funny," Serana said, although it didn't sound like she thought so. "Bringing something from the Soul Cairn gives you something much more powerful."

Hainin shook his head to himself and avoided tripping over yet another skull that was lying on the path. "How do the necromancers communicate with them?"

"Well, that's usually the trick," Serana replied, ducking under one of the floating orbs. "It's possible to do it through a simple portal. But to finalize the deal, you have to travel here yourself… and most of them never come back."

Hainin decided to stop asking questions. They'd passed under a wall of sorts, and were now within sights of a big ruin that looked rather important. Broken stone towers were held together by light, and lighting struck the same place every minute and half.

As they passed beneath a ruin, a spirit ran up to Hainin, causing him to stop.

"You must help me find my Arvak!" the spirit exclaimed. "He doesn't deserve to be in a place like this!"

Hainin held up his hands and stepped back a pace. "Calm down," he said. "Who's Arvak?"

"Arvak. My horse," the spirit explained. "We came to this horrible place together. We were attacked by monsters, so I told him to run. Please, he's such a loyal creature, and he's been running for so long. You have to save him!" The spirit glanced around. "A place like this will change you…"

"How can I help him?" Hainin asked the spirit.

"Arvak? Arvak, where are you? Arvak, please come back! Come back!" The spirit disappeared, and Hainin exchanged a glance with Serana.

"We need to find that horse," Hainin told her.

"Yes, I understand," Serana agreed, remembering the horse that Hainin had tried to say goodbye to when they had first left Dawnstar. "We'll do our best."

Hainin nodded to the building in the distance. "Do you think that's where your mother is?"

"Maybe," Serana answered, "but there's only one way to find out." She continued on down the path, with Hainin hurrying after her.

They kept walking, and dealt with a few more bonemen before they finally reached the ruins. Hainin mounted the stairs after Serana, who was already running up them.

"Mother?" she asked, peering through the purple barrier that surrounded the ruins. "Mother!"

"Maker, it can't be… Serana?" Hainin quickened his pace when Serana received a response, and he stopped beside her in front of the barrier. A woman, who looked a bit older in age that Serana herself, but resembled Serana remarkably, was approaching the barrier from the opposite side.

"Is it really you?" Serana asked her. "I can't believe it! How do we get inside? We have to talk."

"Serana, what are you doing here?" Valerica demanded. "Where's your father?"

"He doesn't know we're here. I don't have time to explain," Serana answered.

"I must have failed," Valerica said under her breath, and then she met Serana's eyes. "Harkon's found a way to decipher the prophecy, hasn't he?"

Serana shook her head quickly. "No, you've got it all wrong. We're here to stop him, to make everything right!"

Only then did Valerica seem to notice Hainin, standing beside Serana. "Wait a moment… you've brought a stranger here? Have you lost your mind?" she demanded of Serana.

"No, you don't -"

Valerica turned to Hainin. "You, come forward. I would speak with you." Hainin glanced at Serana, and then took a few steps closer to the barrier and away from her to speak with Valerica, who glared at him. "How does it come to pass that a Dark Brotherhood assassin is in the company of my daughter?" Hainin started to respond, but Valerica went on before he could. "It pains me that you'd travel with Serana under the guise of her protector in an effort to hunt me down."

Hainin frowned. "Hunt you down? What are you talking about?" He gestured to his face. "Do you see my eyes? I just want to keep Serana safe from whatever this stupid prophecy is, and then change back into a human!"

"Coming from one who murders as a trade, it's hard for me to believe your intentions are noble. Serana has sacrificed everything to keep Harkon from completing the prophecy. I would have expected her to explain that to you," Valerica said, continuing to glare.

"Yes, I know, because I found her in the cave you trapped her in," Hainin said, bitterness evident in his tone. "We're here for the second Elder Scroll."

Valerica seemed shocked. "You think I'd have the audacity to place my own daughter in that tomb for the protection of her Elder Scroll alone?" she demanded. "The scrolls are merely a means to an end. The key to the Tyranny of the Sun is Serana herself."

Hainin glanced at Serana, who was watching the two of them speak, and then he looked back at Valerica through narrowed eyes. "... I'm sorry, what?" he asked her.

Valerica inhaled and exhaled. "When I fled Castle Volkihar, I fled with two Elder Scrolls. The Scroll you found with Serana speaks of Auriel, the Sun God, and his arcane weapon, Auriel's Bow."

 _Oh, so_ that's _the bow Cry mentioned._

"The second Scroll declares that "The Blood of a Coldharbour's Daughter will blind the eye of the Dragon"," Valerica continued.

Hainin frowned at her. "Where does Serana come in?"

"Like myself, Serana was human once," Valerica said, beginning to pace. Hainin recognized it as a habit she shared with Harkon. "We were devout followers of Lord Molag Bal. Tradition dictates the females be offered to Molag Bal on his summoning day. Few survive the ordeal. Those that do emerge as a pure-blooded vampire. We call such confluences the "Daughter of Coldharbour"."

Hainin sighed. "And what is Coldharbour?"

"It's what some call the domain of Molag Bal. His place in Oblivion," Valerica said.

"And… Serana underwent this ritual willingly?"

"It was expected of her, just as it was expected of me," Valerica answered stonily. "Being selected as an offering to Molag Bal is an honor. She wouldn't have dared turn her back on that."

Hainin was still frowning. "So… the prophecy - the "Tyranny of the Sun" - requires Serana's blood?" he asked, hating the idea of this prophecy even more.

"Now you're beginning to see why I wanted to protect Serana, and why I've kept the other Elder Scroll as far away from her as possible," Valerica responded, nodding.

"Harkon plans on killing his own daughter? To put out the sun?"

"If Harkon obtained Auriel's bow, and Serana's blood was used to taint the weapon, the Tyranny of the Sun would be complete," Valerica explained. Her eyes hardened. "In his eyes, she would be dying for the good of all vampires."

Hainin straightened his shoulders. "I'd never let that happen."

"And how exactly do you plan on stopping him?" Valerica asked, sounding tired.

"I'll kill Harkon myself before he can do anything to Serana!" Hainin declared.

Valerica shook her head. "If you believe that, then you're a bigger fool than I originally suspected. Don't you think I weighed that option before I enacted my plans?"

It was Hainin's turn to glare. "Why don't we ask Serana what she thinks?"

"You care nothing for Serana, or our plight," Valerica growled. "Whether or not you're a vampire, I know you don't like being one of us, and before you became one, you would have killed both of us as soon as spoken to us. You're only here because you believe we're abominations. Evil creatures that need to be destroyed."

Hainin could feel a fire burning deep inside him, one that he was prepared to release all over this vampire who seemed to think she was better than him, but he pushed it down and away. "One of your kind almost killed my horse. But besides that… Serana believes in me. Why can't you?"

"Serana?" Valerica turned away from Hainin and towards her daughter. "This stranger's original goal was to take down the vampires, and yet I should entrust you to him?"

Serana frowned. "This 'stranger' has done more for me in the brief time I've known him than you've done in centuries!" she exclaimed.

"How dare you?" Valerica demanded. "I gave up everything I cared about to protect you from that fanatic you call a father!"

Serana closed her eyes for a moment, and did the same relaxation technique Hainin had see her mother do only moments before. "Yes, he's a fanatic," she agreed. "He's changed. But he's still my father. Why can't you understand how that makes me feel?"

"Oh, Serana," Valerica sighed, sounding pitiful. "If only you'd open your eyes. The moment your father discovered your role in the prophecy, you'd be in terrible danger."

"So to protect me, you decided to shut me away from everything I cared about?" Serana asked her. "You never asked me if hiding in that tomb was the best course of action, you just expected me to follow you blindly. Both of you were obsessed with your own paths." She glared at her mother. "Your motivations might have been different, but in the end, I'm still just a pawn to you, too."

Serana took a step away from the barrier. "I want us to be a family again, but I don't think we can ever have that. Maybe we don't deserve that kind of happiness. Maybe it isn't for us. But we have to stop him. Before he goes too far." She glanced up and looked at Valerica. "And to do that, we need the Elder Scroll."

Hainin watched as Valerica and Serana gazed at one another, and he saw the change occur on Valerica's face as he did so. After a time, she let out a sigh and glanced downwards. "I'm sorry, Serana. I didn't know… I didn't see," she said quietly. "I've allowed my hatred for your father to estrange us for too long. Forgive me." She glanced up again. "If you want the Elder Scroll, it's yours."

Serana dipped her head, and Valerica turned back to Hainin. "Your intentions are still somewhat unclear to me. But for Serana's sake, I'll assist you in anyway I can," she said to him.

Hainin was not about to tell her about Nazir, so he moved past her 'intentions' comment. "Do you have the Elder Scroll with you?" he asked.

"Yes. I've kept it safely secured since I was imprisoned. Fortunately, you're in a position to breach the barrier that surrounds these ruins," Valerica informed him.

Hainin sighed. He'd known they'd be spending a lot more time in the Soul Cairn than he would have liked. "What do we need to do?"

"You need to locate the tallest of the rocky spires that surround these ruins," Valerica said. "At their bases, the barrier's energy is being drawn from the unfortunate souls that have been exiled here. Destroy the Keepers that are tending them, and it should bring the barrier down."

Hainin nodded, knowing the spires she meant. "We'll be back soon," he said to her.

"One more word of warning," Valerica said before he could move away from the barrier. "There's a dragon that calls itself Durnehviir roaming the Cairn. Be wary of him. The Ideal Masters have charged him with overseeing the Keepers, and he will undoubtedly intervene if you're perceived as a threat."

Hainin decided that he could stay and talk with her for a few more minutes while he worked up the courage to possibly dealing with a dragon. "I actually have a few questions for you," he said to her.

Valerica rolled her eyes in a very Serana-like way. "Of course you do."

"Why haven't you pursued the prophecy?"

Valerica shook her head. "Harkon's vision is a world plunged in eternal darkness where the vampire can flourish and never again fear the 'tyranny of the sun'. What he fails to realize is how much attention would be called to our kind if the prophecy came to fruition."

"What kind of attention?" Hainin asked, frowning.

"If eternal night fell, there are many who wouldn't stand for it," Valerica explained. "They would raise armies in attempts to return things to normal. The order of the day would be our destruction until every last vampire was hunted down, and eliminated."

"So… you like living in the shadows."

"I do. It's the only way vampires have survived for millennia, and the only way we can continue to survive in the future," Valerica answered.

"I see." Hainin still didn't have the courage, so he moved on to another question that had been bothering him. "If I leave the Soul Cairn, can I safely return?"

Valerica nodded. "As you've been travelling in the Soul Cairn, your body has become attune to it. Let's just say a tiny part of you rubbed off on it, and in its place, a bit of the Soul Cairn filled the void. You should find no difficulty in using the portal."

"So why are you stuck here?" Hainin queried.

Valerica let out a sigh. "When I entered the Soul Cairn, I had intended to strike a bargain with the Ideal Masters, the custodians of this place."

"What kind of bargain?"

"I requested refuge in the Soul Cairn, and in exchange I would provide the Ideal Masters with the souls they craved. If I had foreseen the value they placed on my own soul, I would never have come here."

Hainin winced. "They tricked you."

"The Ideal Masters unleashed their Keepers and sent them to destroy me," Valerica continued. "Fortunately, I was able to hold them at bay and retreat into these ruins."

"And then they trapped you."

"Unfortunately, yes," Valerica answered. "Since the Keepers weren't able to claim my soul, they had their minions construct a barrier I wouldn't be able to breach."

Hainin shook his head. "You've been imprisoned all this time?" he asked in disbelief.

"Time has little meaning to me. Consequently, it has little meaning to the Ideal Masters as well. I suppose you could call this the ultimate waiting game, each side watching the other to see when they will give in," Valerica said.

"We'll get you out soon enough," Hainin told her, deciding he had as much courage as he was going to get.

"Be careful, assassin. And keep my daughter safe," Valerica told him, and then she retreated away from the barrier.

Serana smirked at him as he joined her on the oath. "Are you actually ready to go this time, brave protector?" she inquired.

"Shut up and walk," Hainin muttered back, heading southeast towards the first spire he noticed.

The trek to the first tower took them off of the path, but, thankfully, the tower wasn't hard to notice. As they approached, they were faced with a new kind of enemy, something that resembled draugr that Serana called 'wrathmen'.

Hainin didn't appreciate the fact that these 'wrathmen' all had two handed weapons, and he was stuck darting in and out with his blades. Once the wrathmen were taken care of, however, Hainin led Serana up to the top of a small hill in the terrain and pointed towards the Keeper standing before the ruined tower in the distance.

The Keeper was a giant creature wearing… bone armor. At least, Hainin assumed it was armor. The Keeper wielded a giant, two handed battle axe, and Hainin decided that he did not want to deal with getting hit by that.

"I'm going to shoot him from right here," Hainin told Serana, who didn't argue with him. She merely nodded, and stepped back a few paces to give him room.

Hainin prepared an arrow, and he exhaled in order to relax, and make sure his aim was precise. When he was as calm as he thought he would be, he raised his bow and pulled the arrow back in the string. He aimed for the Keeper's knee so that it wouldn't be able to rush towards where he and Serana were. Hainin counted to three in his head, and let the arrow fly.

It sailed over the Soul Cairn's purple ground and hit the Keeper squarely in the knee. The big creature let out an annoyed shout, and looked down at its injury. When it did so, Hainin fired another arrow, aiming for the exposed spot of the Keeper's neck. The arrow hit its mark, and the Keeper fell forward onto the ground.

Hainin lowered his bow, and glanced at Serana, waiting to be praised.

"That was impressive," Serana informed him, and Hainin smiled, pleased.

"I didn't train with a bow for five hours a day for a month straight for nothing," he responded, putting his bow back on his back. "Nazir likes to talk about the first time I held a bow, and how I held it upside down."

"Really?" Serana asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Apparently," Hainin answered, shaking his head. "I think he over exaggerates a little bit." Hainin glanced around, and spotted another tower towards the northwest. He pointed to it. "That one next?"

"Sure," Serana replied, and she started down the hill ahead of him. Hainin frowned to himself as he gazed towards where the Keeper lay, and watched as it started to shimmer, and then it's body turned into a pile of black ashes.

"Serana, wait a moment!" he called to her, and then he jogged towards the tower where the Keeper had stood. Crouching down next to the pile of ashes, he rooted around in it for a moment, and withdrew his hand when it closed around something cold and hard. Frowning, he gazed down at what he identified as a black soul gem, and the writhing soul inside of it.

"What did you find?" Serana asked as she jogged up behind him.

"A black soul gem," Hainin answered, standing up. He showed it to her. "It's filled."

"Huh," Serana said, taking it. "That's a surprise."

"What, that the Keepers themselves would become soul trapped?"

"No, that it would be a black soul gem," Serana answered, handing it back to Hainin. "Keep it safe, I guess. You never know when you'll have cause to use one."

Hainin slid the soul gem into one of the pouches on his armor, and then followed Serana in the direction of the second tower they were heading too.

The trek across the Soul Cairn to this one took a little bit longer, and what they found wasn't a tower at all. It was more of a ruin, ruin, like the one they had found Valerica in, but on a smaller scale. The Keeper they found guarding this one had minions of wrathmen and a new friend that Serana called mistmen.

"What?" Hainin asked.

She gestured to one of the flying enemies. "They fly, and they have smoke around them. Mistmen."

Hainin rolled his eyes, and pulled out his bow. "You're very creative, Serana. One of the many qualities I like about you," he said to her, and then let an arrow fly into one of the 'mistmen'.

Serana rolled her eyes to herself, and helped him take care of the rest of them. When they were done with that, they had to take care of the Keeper, who'd been alerted by the death of his minions. This one wasn't nearly as scary as the other one, as it only had a mace and a shield. Hainin was able to take it down with three shots.

There was a black soul gem waiting for them this time, too, and Hainin took it. He shrugged when Serana frowned at him.

"It's like you said," he started, putting the soul gem away. "You never know when you'll need it."

Serana shrugged, and pointed to the last tower, which was way off in the southwestern distance. "Ready?" she asked him.

"Mhm," Hainin answered.

The two set off.

As they walked, they came across a ruin that was surrounded by bonemen, and the two of them cleared it out within a few minutes. When it was clean, Hainin walked up into the ruin to see what the bonemen had been guarding, and he raised an eyebrow when he found a skull sitting on a pedestal. It wasn't a human skull, though. It was a horse skull.

Serana joined him, and Hainin gestured to it. "You think this is…?"

"It might be," she answered, picking it up.

Almost at once, there was a purple flash from outside the ruins, and the two exchanged a glance before ducking outside.

The soul from before, who'd asked Hainin to save his horse Arvak, was waiting for them.

"You saved him!" the soul exclaimed, seeing the skull in Serana's hands. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," she said to the soul, handing the skull over.

"Hey, if you want, I can teach you how to summon him," the soul said. "He's very fast."

Hainin and Serana exchanged a glance, and then Serana nodded. Hainin watched as the soul showed her a quick spell, and Serana repeated his actions a few times. When she'd perfected it, the soul seemed content.

"Goodbye, heroes," he said to them. "Take good care of Arvak for me." The soul then disappeared, and Serana glanced down at her hand before looking at Hainin.

"How'd you feel about riding to the last tower instead?" she asked him.

"I don't think I'd be opposed," Hainin answered, stepping back.

Serana performed the spell the soul had taught her, and the sound of horse hooves beating the ground surrounded them before Arvak appeared out of a mist of purple. The horse was… well, bone, and had a flaming purple mane and tail. It whinnied and reared, but didn't run away from them.

"That was actually pretty neat," Hainin said, walking over to the horse, and placing a gentle hand in front of his… nose.

Arvak blinked at him, and then turned his head towards Serana and nickered. Serana smiled and walked over to the horse. She swung herself up onto his back, and Arvak barely reacted. Serana nodded to herself, and held a hand down to Hainin.

"We have one last Keeper to deal with," she reminded him.

"Right," he agreed, and took her hand. Serana pulled him up onto Arvak behind her. "We're off," he said.

Arvak didn't move.

Hainin leaned around Serana. "We're off?" he said again, asking it this time.

"I don't really know how to make a horse go," Serana admitted.

"Give him a little kick in the side," Hainin replied, sighing to himself.

Serana did as he suggested, and Arvak reared again before taking off towards the last tower. Hainin held on to Serana for dear life, who was holding onto Arvak for dear life. Both however, enjoyed their horse ride a lot more than they would've enjoyed walking the rest of the way.

The reached the last tower in a matter of minutes, and they dealt with the mistemet surrounding the base after climbing off of Arvak. When the mistmen were down, Hainin glanced around for the Keeper, but it was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is it?" he asked Serana, who was gazing upwards. "What?" Hainin looked up as well, and sighed to himself. "Oh, great."

"You'll have to go up there."

" _I'll_ have to go up there?" Hainin asked in disbelief.

"You killed the other two on your own. Don't you think you can handle this last one?" Serana queried.

Hainin sighed again, and glanced upwards. "No," he said.

"Why not?"

Hainin shook his head. "I'm afraid of heights."

Serana blinked at him. "You are?"

"Yes," Hainin responded, crossing his arms. "I can't do it, Serana."

The vampire let out a huff, and gestured to the portal on the ground. "That'll take me up." She looked at Hainin. "I'll go up there, and try to knock it down. Maybe the fall will kill it."

Hainin nodded enthusiastically, happy she wasn't going to send him up. "Good. You go do that. I'll wait down here, in case you need help."

Serana walked over to the portal and stepped onto it. She fizzed away, and Hainin hurried out from under the floating tower and looked up, trying to see what was happening. He couldn't really, and he let out a sigh and put his hands on his hips.

"Serana!" he called.

In response, there was a loud thud, and then a Keeper was falling over the edge of the tower. Hainin took a few quick steps backward to avoid it as it fell to the purple ground with a weak groan. Hainin shot it with an arrow for good measure, and then nodded to himself as the Keeper disappeared into a pile of ashes like the others. He bent down and retrieved the soul gem just as Serana reappeared from the portal.

"That was good," he told her, turning around to face her. "I didn't think it would actually work."

"I'm glad it did," Serana responded, glancing at a wound on her arm. "He had an enchanted bow that shot…" She shook her head. "I don't even know what." Sighing, she glanced up from her wound. "I'll be fine, though. Did you get another soul gem?"

"Yeah," Hainin answered. "We should head back to the ruins. The barrier should be down."

Serana nodded, and summoned Arvak again. The horse carried them across the Soul Cairn, back to the ruins that Valerica had been trapped in. They dismounted, and Arvak dashed off. The barrier was indeed gone, and Hainin found Valerica leaning against a wall.

She clapped her hands together when she saw them. "You managed to destroy all three Keepers. Very impressive."

"Can we have the scroll now?" Hainin asked her, not wanting to waste any more time.

"Yes, please follow me. Keep watch for Durnehviir. With the prison's barrier down, he's almost certain to investigate," Valerica warned, and then she led the way over to the door of the ruins. "This leads into the Boneyard, where I've hidden the scroll."

Hainin and Serana followed her through the door, and found what looked more like an arena than a courtyard on the other side. Hainin could almost feel the weight of a battle on his shoulders as he followed Valerica towards the center of the Boneyard, and then he froze when Serana spoke.

"Wait, I hear something!" she said from behind them.

Valerica looked up first as the sound of leathery wings reached all three of them, and her eyes widened. "It's Durnehviir! He's here. Defend yourselves!"

Hainin instinctively pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow. The sky above them glowed purple as Durnehviir appeared, his wings spread out to full length and a roar coming out of his mouth. He landed on one of the walls of the Boneyard, and Hainin let his arrow fly. It must have hit its mark, because Durnehviir cursed in the dragon language and took off again.

He'd let out a Shout, however, that caused several bonemen to rise from the ground and rush towards the three companions. Hainin quickly shot down one that was directly behind him, and then another that was running towards Serana, who was distracted by two already.

Hainin spun around to find Durnehviir. The dragon was circling overhead. Hainin pulled back another arrow and let it go, aiming for the dragon's wing. Durnehviir twisted in the air, and fell, landing with a heavy thump in the center of the Boneyard.

The dragon struggled to its feet, and Shouted a blue wave towards Serana, who was attempting to use her drain life spell on the beast. Immediately, the magic stopped flowing from Serana's hand, and she blinked down at it, before looking at Hainin.

"It sapped my magic," she said in disbelief. She then ducked to avoid Durnehviir's wings as he flapped them and took off again.

"This isn't my job!" Hainin complained, aiming for the dragon's wing again. "I'm not the Dragonborn!"

And yet, the battle persisted. Serana and Valerica dealt with the bonemen that Durnehviir's Shouts spawned from the ground, and Hainin kept hitting the dragon with arrows whenever he could. When Durnehviir could no longer fly, Hainin took cover behind a pile of rubble and shot arrow after arrow at the dragon's thrashing head.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Durnehviir stopped fighting, and let out a howl. He then slumped against the ground, and Hainin stepped out from behind his pile of rubble as the dragon began to flake apart and disappear. When it's hide was gone, it's bones faded into a blue wave, and the whole thing disappeared over the side of the Boneyard.

Hainin lowered his bow, and glanced around. Broken arrows littered the ground, as did remnants of the bonemen Durnehviir had summoned. Still, neither of his companions seemed to be suffering from any injuries, although Hainin's side was burning from a cut he'd received from a boneman.

He put his hand against his side and walked over to Valerica, who was gaping at the spot where Durnehviir's body had lain.

"Forgive my astonishment," she said to Hainin when he looked at her in confusion, "but I never thought I'd witness the death of that dragon."

"Why not?" Hainin asked, and then he huffed when Serana approached and placed a glowing hand against his side.

"Volumes written on Durnehviir allege that he can't be slain by normal means," Valerica explained. "It appears they were mistaken. Unless…"

"What?" Hainin asked her, nodding gratefully to Serana, who had healed the cut on his side.

"The soul of a dragon is as resilient as its owner's scaly hide," Valerica said. "It's possible that your killing blow has merely displaced Durnehviir's physical form while he reconstitutes himself."

Hainin and Serana exchanged a look, and then Hainin glanced at Valerica. "And… how long will that take?"

She shrugged. "Minutes? Hours? Years? I can't even begin to guess." She met Hainin's gaze. "I suggest we don't wait around to find out. Let's get your Elder Scroll, and then you can be on your way."

Hainin and Serana followed her over to a hollowed out section of the Boneyard's wall. Hidden away inside was a long wooden box, which Valerica unlocked with a tiny golden key, and opened.

Inside it lay the Elder Scroll.

Hainin let out a relieved sigh and took it from the box, sliding its leather strap over both of his shoulders so that it lay against his chest, and the Elder Scroll hung from his back.

Valerica blinked at him. "Now that you've retrieved the Elder Scroll, you should be on your way," she said to him.

Hainin looked over at her in confusion. "Wait, you're going to stay here? Even though we got rid of the barrier for you?"

Valerica shook her head. "I have no choice," she said. "As I told to you before, I am a Daughter of Coldharbour. If I return to Tamriel, that increases Harkon's likelihood of bringing the Tyranny of the Sun to fruition."

Hainin glanced at Serana, who was studying something off in the distance that most likely wasn't actually there. He turned back to Valerica, and gave her the honest truth.

"We might not come back."

Valerica didn't seem surprised. "After what I've put Serana through, I'd understand if she never wished to see me again. I leave that decision in your hands." Hainin nodded, and Valerica crossed her arms. "Remember that Harkon isn't to be trusted. No matter what he promises, he will deceive you in order to get what he wants. Promise me you'll keep my daughter safe." Valerica looked at Serana, her eyes going soft. "She is the only thing of value I have left."

Hainin nodded again. "I'll protect her."

Serana looked at Valerica. "Goodbye, Mother," she said to her.

Valerica bowed her head. "Stay safe, you two."

Hainin took Serana's arm, and gently pulled her away and towards the entrance to the Boneyard. They ducked outside, and Hainin stiffened when he saw what was waiting for them. He reached for his bow, cursing to himself, and took aim at Durnehviir.

"Blasted -"

"Stay your weapons," the dragon said from where it perched on pile of rubble just outside the ruins. "I would speak with you, _Qahnaarin_."

"I thought you were dead," Hainin said to him, lowering his bow all the same.

"Cursed," Durnehviir said, "not dead. Doomed to exist in this form for eternity. Trapped between laas and dinok, between life and death."

Hainin exhaled. "Why are we speaking?"

Durnehviir tilted his big head. "I believe in civility among seasoned warriors."

"Pfft," Hainin scoffed. "I'm not a warrior."

"All the same, I find your ears to be worthy of my words." Hainin put his bow away, and crossed his arms, waiting for the dragon to continue. "My claws have rendered the flesh of innumerable foes, but I have never once been felled on the field of battle. I therefore honor-name you ' _Qahnaarin_ ', or Vanquisher in your tongue."

Hainin shrugged his shoulders and kicked at the ground. "You weren't so bad at fighting yourself, dragon," he said.

"Your words do me great honor," Durnehviir responded. "My desire to speak with you was born from the results of our battle, _Qahnaarin_. I'd like to ask you if you require anything from me."

Hainin looked at Serana, who raised an eyebrow. Hainin shook his head, and Serana crossed her arms and tapped her foot. Hainin sighed to himself and looked at Durnehviir, who was waiting for him to speak. "Actually… we do need one thing…"

Needless to say, Hainin was yelling the whole ride back to the portal, while Serana grinned to herself.

When Durnehviir had dropped them off back at the foot of the steps and departed, Hainin shook his head at Serana.

"Never again!" he exclaimed.

Serana, however, was studying the ground, and Hainin frowned in confusion. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yes, I just…" Serana glanced up and met his gaze. "I'm glad you're here with me. I don't think I could be doing this alone."

Hainin smiled at her, and shrugged. "Don't think twice about it. I'm happy to be helping. Let's get out of here, yeah?"

Serana nodded, and Hainin led the way back up to the portal. He held out his hand, and Serana took it in her own. Together, the two of them stepped up into the swirling purple light, and were immediately deposited back on the second floor of Valerica's laboratory, in Castle Volkihar.

"Woof," Hainin said, sitting up. "Your mother was right. The return journey was a lot easier than the first." He clambered to his feet, and offered Serana his hand. "What now?"

"Well," Serana said as he pulled her upright, "I'd assume the College of Winterhold, to get the final Elder Scroll." Hainin grunted, and she tilted her head. "You don't seem happy about that."

Hainin shook his head. "Winterhold and I have a… history," he said.

"Oh, I see," Serana replied, frowning to herself.

"But, we don't have any other choice," Hainin sighed. "We'll catch a carriage in Solitude, I suppose." He started to hop down off of the balcony over the portal, but Serana placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. He looked back at her in confusion.

"Do you want to ask me anything?" she queried.

"Uh…" Hainin thought about it for a moment, and then sighed, and nodded. "Yeah. Does it bother you that we're going against your father?"

Serana blinked at him. She hadn't expected that to be his question. "I mean, it doesn't surprise me," she said. "I figured we'd be heading for this one day. I just didn't know when."

"And… if we have to kill him?"

"If?" Serana smiled wanly. "I've been assuming that's where all this is going. I've been trying to make my peace with it." She shook her head. "Come on, we can talk about this another time."

Hainin watched as she started down the stairs of the balcony, and he realized that there was a fire in his throat like no other. Before she could walk out the door of the laboratory, he called her back. She glanced over at him, and he chuckled. "Do you think your mother has any of those blood potions around here?"

Serana rolled her eyes, but retreated back into the laboratory all the same to help him look.

* * *

 **I know it's a lot, and I'm sorry. But the next one is great. Stay with me until then.**


	17. The Third Elder Scroll and the Prophecy

**I don't own Elder Scrolls V.**

* * *

Nazir wandered back towards the Frozen Hearth, once again returning with no new information on where Hainin and Serana were. They still hadn't come through Winterhold. Nazir was getting more and more concerned.

It was his and Agmaer's third day of waiting. Nazir knew the Nord was starting to get restless, and he'd noticed the letter Agmaer received from a courier. Surely it had to have been from Isran, although Agmaer did not share it with Nazir.

The Redguard had yet to understand why Agmaer hadn't decided to leave in the night with the Elder Scroll in hand. Perhaps Isran still thought Nazir too valuable to simply let go.

He walked into the inn to find Agmaer seated by the fire pit in the center of the room, gazing into the flames. Nazir sat down in a chair beside him with a heavy sigh, and Agmaer glanced sideways at him.

"Nothing new, then?" he queried.

"Nothing new," Nazir agreed, raising a hand so that the innkeeper would see he wanted to order something. Dagur, the keeper, nodded in response, and Nazir lowered his hand. "I know you want to leave."

"No, no," Agmaer said, straightening up. "I told you I would stay until Serana and Hainin showed up, and that's what I'm going to do."

Nazir glanced at him. "And how does Isran feel about that?" he asked.

Agmaer didn't reply, and Dagur walked over to them. "What can I get you, Nazir?" he asked the Redguard.

"Some of your warm cider, please, Dagur," Nazir answered, pulling out a few septims, "and a refill for my friend."

"Right," Dagur agreed, heading off to get his requests. Nazir turned back to Agmaer.

"Nothing is keeping you here," he told him. "You know that, right?"

"Yes," Agmaer replied. "I know that you think I'll end up leaving you here, taking the Elder Scroll with me, but I'm not going to do that, because the Elder Scroll is the only thing that's going to bring Serana and Hainin here." The Nord glanced up as Dagur returned, two mugs in hand, and the companions took them in trade of Nazir's payment.

When Dagur had gone again, Agmaer looked at Nazir. "Isran threatened that if we bring 'the bloodsuckers' to Fort Dawnguard, he'll waste no time in killing them."

Nazir let out a breath at that, and took a drink of his cider. "Isran is just lovely, isn't he?" he asked, and Agmaer chuckled in response.

As Agmaer took a drink of his refilled mug, Nazir examined him. He wasn't someone who'd he'd have expected to bond with, but, surprisingly enough, it had been rather easy to make a connection with the young Nord. It helped, too, that Agmaer was very kind and thoughtful, and seemed determined to wait as long as necessary for the love of Nazir's life to come to Winterhold.

Nazir didn't know how he'd ever repay Agmaer for his patience, but he decided that setting him up with the Companions should be a kind enough gesture of gratitude.

"Where do you think they are?"

Drawn out of his thoughts by the very person who encompassed them, Nazir blinked once and shrugged in response to Agmaer's question.

"I have no clue."

"Hmm." Agmaer took a thoughtful sip of his drink. "Wherever the third Elder Scroll is, probably."

"And where do you think that would be?" Nazir asked, looking down at the dark liquid in his own tankard.

As a reply, Agmaer hummed into his cup, and Nazir sighed outwards. "Right."

Before either of them could speak any more on the subject, there was a scream from outside the inn. Nazir dropped his mug, spilling warm cider all over the floor, but it didn't matter much to anyone, as all those in the inn itself rushed outside to see who had screamed and why.

Nazir grabbed for his scimitar, hanging dutifully at his waist, when he saw the group of vampires and death hounds running down the hill into Winterhold.

"By the Gods!" Dagur exclaimed, and Agmaer quickly ducked back inside the inn to retrieve his crossbow.

Nazir ran ahead with the guards of Winterhold to meet the vampires head-on. He quickly stabbed his weapon through one, and then yanked it out again and spun around to get another. The vampires had everyone by surprise, however, and they easily pushed through Winterhold's defense and into the city.

Nazir cursed and finished off the vampire he was fighting before sailing after one who was heading for the Jarl's longhouse. The vampire hissed when it heard him coming through the snow, and rounded on him. Because it was up the stairs leading to the longhouse door, it had the higher ground, and was able to leap on Nazir from where it stood.

The two fell into the snow. Nazir let out a frustrated shout as the vampire knocked his scimitar from his hand. The Redguard attempted to kick the vampire off of him, but the creature had his legs trapped under its own, and it wasn't budging.

Nazir struggled beneath it. The vampire hissed down into his face, preparing to take a large bite out of the Redguard's neck. Nazir closed his eyes and stopped fighting, deciding that if this was what Sithis had planned for his final moments, then so be it.

He waited for death to come, but it didn't. Instead, the vampire went limp on top of him, and Nazir opened his eyes. He pushed the vampire off and glanced around, releasing a weak chuckle when he saw Agmaer standing on the porch of the Frozen Hearth, lowering his crossbow.

The Nord grinned in response, and was beginning to say something to him when a death hound appeared from nowhere and launched itself at him. Agmaer let out a surprised shout as the death hound knocked him into the snow.

"No!" Nazir exclaimed, reaching for his scimitar and struggling to his feet. He started towards the pile of black fur that Agmaer was trapped under, weapon up and ready, but an arrow beat him to the killing blow.

Nazir blinked at the distinctive ebony arrow that had killed the hound, and then turned around, looking for the only possible source it could have come from. Indeed, there was Hainin, standing on a snowy cliff over the Jarl's longhouse, and lowering his bow.

He met Nazir's eyes and smiled.

Nazir let out a relieved breath, before remembering Agmaer.

He turned around again and quickly pulled the dead death hound off of his companion, and swallowed when he saw what he had feared he would find.

Agmaer's chest was ripped open, and blood was pooling out of the wounds and staining the snow around the Nord red. His chest rose and fell shallowly, and his eyes fluttered as he looked up at Nazir, who crouched down next to him and took his hand.

"Easy, my friend," Nazir said to him when Agmaer tried to speak. "You shouldn't say anything. Save your strength."

All the same Agmaer did his best to lift his head. Nazir sighed, and used his other hand to support it. Agmaer coughed weakly when he saw his wounds, and turned his eyes back to Nazir.

"Y-you re-really think I would h-have been a g-good Com-Companion?" the young Nord asked him, and Nazir nodded.

"I think you would have been the _best_ Companion," he told Agmaer, and he meant it, too.

That seemed to make Agmaer happy, because his eyes brightened a little, even as they started to fade. "D-don't send m-me to the D-Dawnguard," he said quietly. "I w-want to g-go h-home."

"I'll make sure you are returned to your family," Nazir promised him. He forced a grin, and squeezed the Nord's hand. "Thank you, Agmaer," he murmured, unable to say anything more.

Agmaer seemed to smile at him in response. Then the last sliver of his life faded away, and the young Nord died, the light disappearing entirely from his eyes.

Nazir bowed his head, and used his hand to close Agmaer's eyes for good. He then stood up and gazed down at his friend, unsure of what to say, although he felt he should say something.

"You were a true Nord," he decided, knowing it couldn't mean much, coming from a Redguard, but feeling like he had to say it anyway. "You knew what was right, even when the rest of your kind claimed something else. For that, you will be welcomed in... Shor's Hall with open arms."

"Red?" He turned around at Hainin's voice, and found his Listener standing behind him, frowning. "Are you all right?"

Nazir swallowed, and started to reply. When he met Hainin's gaze, however, he found that he couldn't build up the normal wall he kept around his emotions, and he shook his head.

Hainin's frown deepened, and he took a step towards him, obviously a bit wary. Nazir made any of that wariness evaporate when he closed the distance between them and threw his arms around Hainin in a tight hug. Hainin let out a breath and returned the hug, his eyes closing.

"Thank Sithis you're all right," Nazir murmured, hugging him tighter. "I was extremely worried about you."

"It's a long story," Hainin admitted, catching sight of Serana as she headed towards them, the two Elder Scrolls in their possession hanging from her back. It was then that Hainin remembered the whole reason he had agreed to help Serana, and he pulled out of the hug, and fixed Nazir with a look. "I thought you were being held captive by the Dawnguard!" he exclaimed.

"I was," Nazir responded, and then he gestured towards the body of the Nord Hainin had noticed him with before. "Isran sent Agmaer and I out to find the two of you."

"Why?"

"We heard you had the Elder Scroll, and Isran wanted to know why," Nazir explained. He glanced down at the Nord again. "He's not going to be happy with the way things turned out."

"What about you being here?" Hainin demanded. "How did you know we would come to Winterhold?"

"We went to see Cry," Nazir replied, "and she told us that this was where her Elder Scroll had went. I assumed that you'd come here to retrieve it, when she told us that you two needed all three to know the full prophecy."

"You're right," Serana said, stepping into the conversation. "We do need all three, and we have two of them with us." She looked at Hainin. "I'll go get the third one, if you want to help Nazir deal with his friend."

"No need to go to the College," Nazir said before Hainin could speak. They both looked at him, and Nazir gestured towards the Frozen Hearth. "We already got it for you."

Hainin and Serana exchanged a glance, and then Serana nodded and went into the inn to retrieve it. Hainin looked back at Nazir, who had crouched down next to the Nord again, and was gazing down at him sadly.

"I'm sorry," Hainin said softly, crouching down beside him.

Nazir merely sighed, and turned his head away from the Nord. "He wanted to join the Companions," he said quietly, looking at Hainin. "He was going to leave the Dawnguard when this was all over."

Hainin exhaled. "We'll need to send his body back to them."

Nazir shook his head. "He wanted to go back to his family."

"Then that's where he'll go," Hainin decided, rising.

Nazir remained where he was, and Hainin frowned to himself as he watched the Redguard pick up one of the Nord's hands in both of his. He knew Nazir well enough to understand that this boy had made a serious impression on him, but Hainin wasn't sure if it was right of him to ask why they'd grown close. After all, the kid had been a Dawnguard; he couldn't have been too wonderful.

Then again, Nazir had said he'd wanted to leave the Dawnguard so… maybe he was.

Hainin glanced away from Nazir and the Nord, letting his friend have a moment. It wasn't his place to wonder about things like that. Nazir was upset, and he needed a minute to himself.

Finally, the Redguard let out a breath, and moved the Nord's hands to his chest.

Hainin watched him do this, and then he slid an arm around his middle and hugged himself, feeling like he should crouch back down and comfort Nazir further, but wondering if that was the wrong choice.

Thankfully, Serana reemerged from the inn, the third Elder Scroll in hand, and Hainin bit the inside of his cheek as he glanced between her and Nazir. He had a choice to make now, and he didn't want to make it at all.

"Hainin, we have all three!" Serana said, looking happier than he had seen her since they'd left her mother in the Soul Cairn. "Now we'll be able to know where to find Auriel's Bow!"

"Right," Hainin said, "but I doubt Cry will be willing to read two more Elder Scrolls." He glanced around for a moment. "There has to be another way."

"There is." He looked down at Nazir. "While we were waiting for you, I spent a lot of time in the Arcanium. Apparently, there's a way for anyone to read the Elder Scroll, involving a sort of… ritual," the Redguard explained.

"What do you mean?" Hainin asked him.

Nazir exhaled, and rose to his feet. "I don't want to tell you," he said, turning to face the Listener."It might not be safe."

"Don't worry about that right now," Hainin responded. "Tell us, please."

Serana walked down the steps of the inn's porch and joined him, and Nazir glanced between the two of them, then looked back at Hainin. "Scattered all over Tamriel are locations known as Ancestor Glades. There's one in Skyrim, in the Pine Forest."

Hainin frowned. "Near…?"

"Yes," Nazir answered. "The ritual that helps you read the Elder Scrolls has to be performed there. It's called the Ritual of the Ancestor Moth."

"What is this 'ritual'?" Serana queried, handing the third scroll to Hainin, who slid it over one shoulder.

"You'll need to remove some bark from the special tree in the glade to attract the special moths that live there. Once you have enough moths following you, they'll give you the ability to read the scrolls," Nazir said.

Hainin and Serana looked at one another, and then Hainin glanced at Nazir. "How do we gather the bark?"

Nazir didn't miss the 'we', and he turned his gaze to the ground. "There's a tool in the Ancestor Glade, called a Draw Knife." He met Hainin's eyes again. "Apparently, it's incredibly rare for this ritual to be performed, so if it works, you should count yourself lucky."

"Red…"

Nazir shook his head. "I know," he said quietly, "and I get it. It's all right." He gestured to Agmaer. "I'm going to make sure he gets back to his family, and then I'm going home to the Sanctuary." He looked back at Hainin. "The Dawnguard are not happy with you."

"I know that," Hainin answered softly. "We'll have to be careful."

"I'm serious, Hay," Nazir said. "You're being hunted by vampires, and vampire hunters alike. You need to be more than careful."

Hainin gazed at him. "We're going to be fine, I promise."

"Hainin." Nazir's shoulders rose and fell. "Please. I don't want…" He bowed his head. "You can't be lost."

There was more being said, and Hainin understood. He smiled, and reached forward, placing his hand on Nazir's shoulder. The Redguard looked up, and Hainin tilted his head.

"We'll finish this, and be back as soon as we can be," he assured.

The two assassins gazed at one another for a long moment, and then Nazir nodded. "Come home soon," he said.

"I will," Hainin assured. He turned to Serana. "Come on. We have to get to Falkreath."

Serana nodded, and Hainin set off up the hill leading out of Winterhold. At the top, as Serana continued on, he glanced back. Nazir was watching him, and Hainin lifted his hand in a wave.

Nazir returned it, and Hainin smiled to himself before turning and following after Serana.

* * *

They made their way to the opposite corner of Skyrim in a span of three days. Being vampires helped them out with that, and Hainin, for once, didn't complain at all on the journey there. Serana, however, was quick to comment on the terrible weather the whole way.

Still, after three days, they finally, _finally_ reached the cave that Nazir had told them about in the Pine Forest, and Hainin stared at the dark entrance, wondering where they would be going once they achieved the goal they were here to achieve.

Serana, however, was pulling on his arm, and not giving him a lot of time to contemplate. "Hainin, come on!" she said, pulling insistently. "We're so close."

"All right, sorry," Hainin sighed, pulling his arm away from her. "Let's go."

The two walked into the cave and were… well… met by a cave. It was overgrown with green plants, and it was dark, and it was damp. Hainin hated it.

"Hmph," Serana started, glancing around. "It's not very impressive, is it?"

"No," Hainin agreed, avoiding a trailing branch that was trying to touch his face. "It's gross."

"Well, there has to be something here," Serana decided, stepping up onto a cleft coming out of the wall. "Come on, maybe this leads somewhere."

Hainin followed her halfheartedly, and Serana led the way across a fallen tree trunk that bridged the gap between their cleft and another. The second cleft led to an opening in the cave wall, that led down a dark passage. The two walked down to the end of the passage, and stopped when they saw what they were faced with.

It was like an entirely differently place. A beautiful cavern, filled with gorgeous foliage and waterfalls and cliffs, lit up by a beam of moonlight coming from a hole in the top of the cavern. A spring waited at the very bottom, along with a tree with pink blossoms, and a circular, carved out rock.

"Wow," Serana breathed. "Look at this place. No one's been here in centuries." She looked at Hainin. "I doubt there's any other place like it in Skyrim. It's beautiful."

Hainin merely nodded, and started down the steps leading down from the cliff they were standing on, towards the springs and the pink tree. In the circular rock he'd noticed before was an odd, arched tool that he assumed was the Draw Knife Nazir had mentioned.

He took the Draw Knife from the rock, and walked over to the fancy pink tree. He gently used the tool to carve off some of its bark, and then returned the Draw Knife to the rock.

"Hope the moths like that bark as much as Nazir said they would," Serana commented, joining him near the tree as Hainin gingerly held the strip of bark in his hands.

Hainin grinned at her. "Even if they don't, my charm should attract them, right?"

Serana raised an eyebrow. "What charm?" Hainin let out a huff, and walked towards a group of moths that were floating above one of the pools. The moths immediately started to flit around him instead, and Serana laughed. "They've definitely taken a liking to you. And unless I'm seeing things, you're starting to… glimmer."

Hainin moved around the glade, gathering up moth group after moth group, until he realized that he was basically a gemstone.

"I think you're ready," Serana called to him from where she still stood near the spring.

Hainin returned to the beam of light that he'd noticed before. Serana passed him the Elder Scrolls, and Hainin inhaled and exhaled a few times, before pulling open the one they had received from Valerica. Serana watched as he did the same for the other two scrolls, and then he went extremely pale, and the light around him seemed to grow a bit brighter.

Just as she was about to start towards him to see if he was okay, he shook his head, and his normal color returned. He blinked a few times, and turned to her.

"Are you okay?" she asked, worried. "Almost thought I'd lost you there. You went white as the snow."

"I'm all right," Hainin answered, "just a little dizzy."

Serana shook her head. "I never trusted those damn scrolls. I don't blame Cry for not wanting to read the first one. What about the Bow? Do you know where we can find it?"

"It's in a place called Darkfall Cave," Hainin answered. "The scrolls gave me it's exact location."

"Then it's almost over," Serana said, starting to grin. "We can finally put an end to this ridiculous prophecy." She gestured towards the hole in the glade that they had entered through. "Let's get going. I want to get there before my father has a chance to track us down."

They started to move back towards the stairs that had led them down into the springs, but Serana froze, and Hainin ran into her.

"What?" he asked in annoyance, almost dropping the Elder Scrolls.

Instead of Serana responding, the vampires that had found them did. One screeched, and another flew down the stairs towards where they were. Hainin cursed and dashed off to situate himself, leaving Serana to deal with the vampires, and the giant spider they had brought with them.

Hainin struggled to get all the Elder Scrolls over his shoulders, but his bow and sheath of arrows were getting in the way. He cursed again, and pulled them off, but before he could grab for the Elder Scrolls, which he had set down, a vampire appeared around the rock he had hid behind, hissed at him, snatched up all three Elder Scrolls, and raced away again.

"No!" Hainin exclaimed, grabbing for his bow and an arrow. "Serana!"

There was no response from his companion, and Hainin cursed for a third time and dashed out from behind his rock, aiming for the vampire that had grabbed the scrolls and was now running away up the stairs. He fired his arrow, but the vampire was moving too fast, and it hit the glade wall instead.

"Dammit!" Hainin shouted as the vampires began to retreat after their compatriot. Hainin started after them, but it was no use. They were gone, and so were the Elder Scrolls.

Hainin released all the curse words he knew, dropping his bow and falling to his knees. They'd lost the Elder Scrolls.

"Serana…" he started, covering his face with his hands. There was no response. He glanced up. "Serana?" He couldn't see her anywhere, and he quickly climbed to his feet. "Serana!"

He clambered up the stairs to where he had seen the big spider, and found it, dead, with Serana on the ground next to it. "Serana!" Hainin exclaimed, hurrying up the stairs towards her.

She groaned in reply, and blinked her eyes open. Hainin crouched down next to her, and saw the long scratch down her shoulder.

"Hainin…" Serana said weakly.

"Easy," he said, reaching for her hand. "You can heal yourself, can't you?"

Serana nodded, and he placed her hand on her arm. Serana's hand glowed, and she hissed as her arm started to heal. Hainin watched as a strange, black mist mixed with the healing glow of Serana's hand, disappearing with a sharp hiss when it touched the light.

"What is that?" he asked her.

"Poison," Serana answered through clenched teeth. When her scratch was nothing more than a pink scar, she sat up with Hainin's help, and let out a breath when she saw his expression. "They got the scrolls, didn't they?"

"I'm so sorry," Hainin said, and Serana shook her head.

"We'll just have to get Auriel's Bow before they can."

Hainin helped her to her feet, and they they started out of Ancestor Glade, hoping that they could reach Darkfall Cave before Harkon could figure out the Bow, and Serana's, part in the prophecy.

* * *

 **See? Meeting up! Togetherness! For a brief moment!**

 **Also, Agmaer is dead. Which is unfortunate. But, as an aspiring George R. R. Martin spawn, I have to learn how to kill people, and he seemed like a good test run.**

 **Let's hope I don't decide to kill any more...**


	18. Getting Over It

**I don't own Elder Scrolls V.**

* * *

Nazir let out a breath when he reached the top of a snowbank and saw the makeshift stable that Hainin had built for Shadowmere. He was almost home.

After Hainin and Serana had left Winterhold, he'd stayed long enough to send the Dawnguard a letter stating that Agmaer had lost his life, and that the two vampires were doing their best to stop the big group of vampires from destroying the sun. He'd also put in the letter that he was going home, and that he wanted nothing more to do with the Dawnguard.

Of course, he didn't think that he would be getting off easily, and so the entire trip back to Dawnstar he'd been doing his best to avoid places where a courier could find him. He doubted that the letter he'd sent had even _reached_ the Dawnguard yet, but it was only a matter of time before a response found him.

Until then, however…

He skidded down the snowbank and started towards the stable and the secret entrance to the Sanctuary. As he approached, Shadowmere's head lifted, and the horse let out a snort. Nazir paused in front of the stable and held out his hand.

Surprisingly, Shadowmere took a pace forward and allowed Nazir to stroke his velvety nose. The Redguard smiled to himself.

"Hainin will be home soon," he said to Shadowmere, who snorted again in response. Nazir's smile faded, and he let out a quiet sigh. "Yeah, I doubt it, too," he agreed softly. He gave the horse a final pat and then continued past the stable to the hidden entrance.

As soon as he'd walked through the door hidden by the stained glass, he was aware of the change in atmosphere. The Sanctuary was always quiet, but there was something different about this quiet. It was… too quiet.

"Babette?" Nazir inquired, closing the door behind him.

"Nazir? Is that you?" Babette's head appeared from over the wall on the upper floor, and Nazir tilted his own when he saw her.

"What's happened? Should I be ready to get angry?" he asked.

"I don't think so," Babette replied. "Cicero's just been locked in his room since Hainin left, that's all."

 _Ah. That explains the odd silence._

Nazir set down his traveling pack and headed down the hallway towards the bedroom that Cicero had chosen. He hesitated a moment before raising a hand to knock on the wooden door. It opened a second later, and Cicero appeared on the other side, looking the most downcast Nazir had ever seen him.

"Hello, Redguard," he greeted sullenly, walking away but leaving the door open. Nazir, who'd never set foot into the jester's room, lingered outside.

"Hello, clown," he responded, not unkindly. "I hear you haven't been your usual self. Missing Hainin?"

"The Night Mother isn't happy," Cicero explained quietly, sitting down on the edge of his bed. He hung his head between his hands. "She wants him to come home, too."

"We all want Hainin to come home," Nazir said. "He's… he's busy, though."

"He should be here," Cicero retorted. "The only reason he went with that lady was to get you back." He lifted his head, frowning at Nazir. "You're back, but the Listener isn't. That wasn't supposed to happen."

"You're right," Nazir agreed. "It wasn't supposed to be like this, and I wish it wasn't. But… Hainin is doing something important, and he won't be back for a little while longer."

"Why didn't you stay with him?" Cicero questioned. "We're supposed to protect the Listener. That's our job, as his Family. You're the Speaker; you should be with him most of all. But you're not, and he's still gone."

Cicero dropped his head into his hands again, and Nazir gazed at him for a moment longer before turning his gaze to the floor and leaving the doorway of the room.

Cicero had a point. As the Speaker of the Dark Brotherhood, it was his duty to keep Hainin safe. And yet, here he was, a three day trek away and feeling sorry for himself. What kind of Speaker was he?

Nazir paused outside his own bedroom that he shared with Babette. He pushed the door open a bit and glanced inside, eyeing the books that were scattered across Babette's side of the room. Frowning to himself, he stepped into the room and picked up one. If he couldn't be with Hainin, he could at least try to figure out how to protect him in a different way.

"It's not in that one." He snapped the book shut and glanced at the doorway. Babette was leaning against it, arms crossed. "I've been through all of those, Nazir. Changing a vampire back to a human isn't in _any_ of them." She shook her head. "I'm beginning to doubt that it's even possible."

"It has to be," Nazir said under his breath.

"Seems like vampirism is suiting him, since he hasn't come back yet," Babette commented. "I'm assuming you've seen him. How is he?"

"Well…" Nazir set the book down on a table and sat down on his bed with a groan. "He's… he's getting close to finding out exactly what needs to happen in order to stop the sun from getting put out, so that's good. He's also very pale, and his eyes are still that… horrible orange color, and I hate every bit of it."

"Is he not coming home until this prophecy business is dealt with?" Babette asked. Nazir shook his head, and she let out a sigh. "Shame. I miss him. Cicero does, too. And, apparently, so does the Night Mother." She met Nazir's gaze. "You, though. You miss him the most, and you just saw him."

"Yes, well…" Nazir shook his head. "That's what happens when you... . fall in love with someone."

Babette's expression didn't even change. "Good to hear that you're admitting it to yourself. Have you told Hainin?"

"If I had, he'd probably be here with us, don't you think?" Nazir queried, and Babette smiled sympathetically.

"You should have told him."

"I know that," Nazir grumbled, laying down on the bed. "It's too late now, though." He gazed up at the stone ceiling for a moment, and then let out a tired chuckle. "Sands, I miss him."

"So, what are you doing here, then?" Babette asked, and Nazir glanced up at her. "You're the Speaker; you should go find him, and _do your job_."

Nazir gazed at her, letting her words sink in. The Speaker card had been played again; clearly, his Family did not approve of the way he was handling his responsibilities. And, truth be told, Nazir was regretting ever letting Hainin leave Winterhold without him. He should have gone with him, but he hadn't, and now Hainin could be literally _anywhere_ in Skyrim, depending on if he and Serena had already made it to the moth cave.

He explained as much to Babette, who stared at him as though he were speaking gibberish. "Is that supposed to matter?" she asked.

"Yes," Nazir said, slowly. "How am I supposed to get to him if I don't have any idea of where he could be?"

Babette sighed in frustration. "Don't you think that smartest thing would be to get to the place he's supposed to be before he actually gets there himself?" she questioned, and Nazir frowned at her.

"I wouldn't get there before them," he decided, and Babette crossed her arms.

"Do you want to find Hainin or not?"

"Of course I do."

"Then take a chance and go!" the vampire child exclaimed.

Nazir lowered his gaze to the floor, considering it. He supposed that, if he didn't dawdle, there was a chance…

He looked up again, shoulders set. That was the chance he'd have to hope for.

* * *

Hainin paused on the edge of the cleft he'd just climbed. An odd chill crept into his chest, one that he wanted to blame on the wind, but knew he couldn't. It had come because of where he was, and because of what was under the cliff he stood on.

Serana stepped up beside him, huffing a bit. "Hainin, I told you we don't have time for this," she said, looking around. "It's not a good idea for you, either."

"I have to," Hainin decided without looking at her. "We're here; if I don't go in, I'll regret it."

"You'll regret something else entirely if we don't get moving right now," Serana promised him, a slight edge to her tone.

"Serana, we're already here," Hainin said shortly. "If you want to go on ahead, I'm not going to stop you, but I _have_ to do this."

Serana gazed at him for a moment, and then she looked down at the ground. "Fine," she muttered.

Hainin dropped down into the empty clearing below the cliff, landing on top of a new layer of foliage that had grown since… since the attack on the Sanctuary. He paused, eyeing Shadowmere's pool, which had dried up, leaving behind only a dip in the ground that was slowly being covered in foliage as well.

Hainin turned his gaze away from it, and faced the Black Door instead. It gazed out at him, looking out of place against all the green. Hainin swallowed a bit despite himself, and stepped towards it. It didn't react to his approach, as it always had before, and Hainin wondered briefly where all its power had gone.

He hesitated a brief moment before he pushed on the door, finding that it fell open easily. He hesitated some more, and then he carefully slid through the opening he'd created. Immediately, a sadly familiar scent of burning entered his senses, and he had to pause again and bow his head.

Maybe Serana has been right. Maybe this wasn't a good idea.

But he knew that he was here, and he needed to work through whatever closed off feelings he still had about what had happened. He also knew that doing this alone was the best choice, so that no one would be able to see him if he decided to break down and cry.

He let out a breath, and raised his head again. He could do this. He just needed to go through the Sanctuary, and he imagined he'd feel much better.

He forced himself to take a step forward, and he descended the stairs that led down into the Sanctuary itself. The burning smell grew worse as he moved further into the Sanctuary, but he kept going despite it.

He passed by Astrid's bedroom, remembering the one time he'd found her in there, rather than in her customary spot by the table in this first room he was in now. She'd been sitting in a chair near a table, studying an odd pink gem that sat within a gold box. She'd looked up at his entrance however, and smiled warmly at him.

 _"What do you need, my dear?"_

 _"Nazir told me you'd been planning something for me."_

Hainin had been sent on a job in Markarth after that, the first real job he received from Astrid. The start of a long line that had ended horribly.

He shook his head to himself and walked down the next set of stairs, which led into the main cavern of the Sanctuary. He remembered coming down the stairs on his first day, and hearing Babette's tale of an assassination she'd take care of. The laughter and the familial feeling that had reverberated around the cavern during that time had been enough to make Hainin think that he might have actually found a home.

And, of course, he'd met Nazir for the first time down here, too.

He hadn't thought much of the Redguard at first, if he was being honest. Nazir had been rude, and Hainin didn't take kindly to rude people. Still, he remembered their first meeting with fondness, remembered how Nazir had reported hearing about him prior to his arrival, and remembered his own response to that.

 _"You will hear even more, I assure you."_

 _"Ooh, cocky. I give you three days before you screw up, and someone runs a knife across your throat."_

Hainin smiled to himself, an odd feeling of parchedness entering his throat that he recognized immediately. He swallowed against it and moved on.

He'd been grateful to Nazir and Babette before, for taking care of everyone's bodies, burying them in the Falkreath graveyard, but now he was even more so. If there had been traces of bones in the Sanctuary, he would have lost his mind.

He started up the next set of stairs, that led to the room where Festus and Gabriella and Babette had spent most of their time, but hesitated as a wave of heat seemed to wash over him, and the sounds of fire crackling and blades clashing rang in his ears. Hainin cupped his head between his hands, forcing his eyes shut. He stood on the stairs, shaking and waiting for this sudden attack to pass.

When it had, he opened his eyes again and retreated back down the stairs. It was best for him to remain away from the rest of the Sanctuary. He'd gone far enough; both his mind and his body were telling him to go no further.

He backed away from the stairs and returned to the other side of the cavern. He walked back up those stairs instead, and paused once more in the first room. He glanced towards Astrid's chambers, and sucked in a breath. If he wasn't going to go deeper, he at least had to go in there, see it again.

He forced himself to enter first her room, and then walk down the short passage that led to the hidden room he had found Astrid in after the attack. The candles that had been set up in a circle around her had burned down to nothing, leaving only the small pedestals they had rested on. Nothing remained of Astrid.

Hainin fell to his knees and bowed his head again. Finding Astrid like that, burnt to a crisp and prepared as a Black Sacrament… he'd had nightmares solely about it, as though he'd been the one to put her there. He knew, and so did everyone else, that it had all been Astrid's fault, that she'd been blind, but she'd realized it in the end, and Hainin… Hainin didn't know if she had actually deserved to die.

"I'm so sorry, Astrid," Hainin whispered to the circle. "If I hadn't… if I hadn't killed that old woman… none of it would have happened. You'd… you'd still be alive, and you'd still be leading the Brotherhood, and I wouldn't have caused you any problems." He closed his eyes, a faintly familiar feeling of tears creeping to them. "You may believe that it had been your fault, but I know it was mine. It was only mine."

He shifted so that he could pull his knees to his chest, and bury his head in his arms. And, for the first time in ages, Hainin began to cry. He cried for Astrid, and for Arnbjorn, whom he'd been so close to saving. He cried for Veezara, and for Gabriella. He cried for Festus, the stubborn old wizard. He cried for Babette, who had lost her family for a second time. He cried for Cicero, who had only wanted things to return to the way they were meant to be. He cried for Nazir, too, just because, however much the Redguard said so, Hainin knew he could never truly forgive him for what had happened.

And Hainin cried for Serana, whose life had been taken away from her twice over, first when she'd become a vampire, and again when her father had discovered the prophecy, and she'd been hidden away. She didn't deserve any of what had happened to her, and Hainin wished she'd had better.

Hainin cried for himself most of all. He cried because he didn't want to be what he was. He cried because in his happiness, he'd caused so much heartbreak for so many others. He cried because he didn't know what else to do.

"Hainin." He barely heard his name, but he did, and he began to sob even harder when he recognized the voice that had said it. He submissively fell against Nazir as the Redguard pulled him into a hug.

Nazir buried his face into Hainin's hair, holding the Imperial tightly against him. He'd only ever seen Hainin cry once, and he hated it more than anything else. It made him want to expel everything that could possibly make Hainin cry from the world, and it bothered him that he couldn't.

So, instead, he merely held him, whispering reassuring things and hoping that the tears would stop soon. He cradled Hainin to him, pressing soft kisses against the top of his head, hoping that Hainin could feel just how much Nazir cared for him.

The two assassins sat like that for ages, Hainin's sobbing and Nazir's occasional murmuring ensuring that no silence fell. After a time, however, the sobbing faded, and with it the murmuring. Silence took command.

Finally, Nazir spoke, his voice no higher than a whisper: "Why did you come in here?"

Hainin didn't know if he was referring to the Sanctuary, or to this room in particular, but his answer was the same for both: "I had to."

Nazir sighed in response, and Hainin decided to ask a question of his own: "What are you doing here?"

"I'm your Speaker," Nazir said. "I shouldn't have left you in the first place." His grip around Hainin grew tighter. "You've no idea how relieved I am that I found you."

"How'd you know that we'd come here?" Hainin asked, and Nazir chuckled.

"It's like you said: I had to."

Hainin sniffled a bit and pulled back from him, just enough so he could see his face. Nazir offered him a comforting smile, and Hainin exhaled.

"I sort of… lost it for a minute, didn't I?" he asked, forcing a grin of his own.

"Maybe a bit longer than that, but it's all right," Nazir assured. "Sometimes it's better to let it out."

He knew that from experience. After Agmaer's body had been carted away, Nazir had left Winterhold and crouched in a cave for a few minutes, hands pressed to his eyes as he cried over the loss of someone who'd had a bright future ahead of them. Nazir never cried, but that time, he'd had no choice, and he'd felt much better for it.

So, he understood Hainin's need to cry for the fallen Family members, even for Astrid. In fact, he was glad that Hainin had finally let himself come to terms with it. Maybe now the Listener would be able to move forward.

Hainin sighed again and rested his head on Nazir's shoulder. "Did you see Serana?"

"I did. She told me you had gone inside, and that you were 'taking too damn long'," Nazir replied. "Your next step in vanquishing the vampires depends on speed?"

"Sort of," Hainin said. He told Nazir about what had happened at Ancestor's Glade, and how the vampires had stolen the Elder Scrolls. "Serana's worried they'll get them translated before we can get to Auriel's Bow."

Nazir nodded in understanding. "So, we should get moving."

"We?"

"Yes. I'd thought I'd made it rather clear that I'm coming with you this time," Nazir said. Hainin lifted his head, turning to face him. "I'm your Speaker; it's my duty to keep you safe."

"I don't plan on allowing you to risk your own safety for me," Hainin told him. "It's… I doubt it's going to be easy, retrieving this bow. It'll probably be very dangerous. I don't want you in the middle of it."

"Unfortunately, that's not your choice."

"I am your Listener."

"You are," Nazir agreed. "And I am duty bound to _protect_ you, not take orders from you."

The two of them gazed at one another for a long moment, and then Hainin let out a breath. "Fine," he said. "I don't think I have it in me to part from you a third time."

Nazir laughed. "Good to hear."

Hainin stood up, and in turn pulled Nazir to his feet as well. "We'd best go." Before he could head for the Black Door, Nazir grabbed his hand and turned him back around so that he was facing him. Hainin frowned in confusion. "Red?"

Nazir stared at him for a moment, and then he pulled Hainin back over to him fully, and pressed a heady kiss to his mouth. Hainin let out a startled noise, but returned the kiss nonetheless, exhaling through his nose. Warmth spread through him from the top of his head down to his toes, and he let himself relax.

When Nazir pulled back, Hainin blinked at him, his head fuzzy. "What in the name of Sithis was that for?" he asked, grinning.

"I love you."

Immediately, his head cleared, and he focused his full attention on Nazir, wondering if he'd heard him right.

When Nazir didn't say anything, Hainin cleared his throat. "You… you did say what I think you did, right?" he queried.

"I love you." Nazir said it again, and something within Hainin exploded, like a mage's fireball. His head swam and his knees suddenly felt incapable of holding him up. He'd never felt so peculiar in all his life, and he'd swallowed some questionable potions.

Still, Nazir had always had a different effect on him.

He attempted to speak, to return Nazir's declaration or to merely state they should get moving again, he didn't know. It didn't matter, however, because nothing other than a quiet choking sound emerged from his mouth, and Nazir frowned at him in concern.

"Hainin? Are you all right?"

Hainin swallowed against the lump in his throat and managed a nod. Without trying to say anything else, he turned on his heel and left the room, feeling like a bastard.

Why, for love of the Divines, could he not tell Nazir that he loved him, too? Was it a vampire thing? Were they not capable of saying the word?

Whatever it was, he disliked it immensely, and he had a feeling that Nazir wouldn't take to it well, either.

Indeed, when he and Nazir re-emerged from the Sanctuary, the Redguard's expression was stony, and he stalked past Hainin without saying anything. Hainin watched him go, feeling desperate. He couldn't let things end like that. He needed Nazir to know that he loved him, too.

They returned to where Serana was waiting, leaning against a tree. She straightened up at the sight of them, and frowned.

"What happened?" she asked, glancing between the two of them.

"Nothing," Nazir stated. "Where are we going?"

Hainin silently pulled out his map and glanced down at it. He'd marked Darkfall Cave's location on it, so that he wouldn't forget, and he glanced up at his companions.

"North," he said, surprised that his voice had decided to return, but of course it had. "We need to go north."

"Then let's go," Nazir said, starting off towards the road. Hainin watched him go, frustrated with himself, and Serana glanced between them once more before she shook her head to herself and went after the Redguard.

Hainin followed after another moment.

* * *

 **Oh no...**

 **Well, that's okay. It was sort of like... a small climax. Not... not the love thing, but the visiting of the Sanctuary thing. It needed to happen, and so it happened now.**

 **I hope Hainin feels a little bit better, at least, even if he sort of eff'd up his relationship.**


	19. Some Form of Reconciliation

**I don't own Elder Scrolls V.**

* * *

Hainin pushed his way into the dark cave last, and he blinked a few times as he attempted to take in his surroundings. Even with his superior eyesight, he could barely see a thing.

"Not an impressive place, either," Serana commented from where she stood a few steps ahead, "but I imagine that what we're looking for is further in. Come on."

She started to delve deeper into the cave. Hainin glanced at Nazir once before following her, wondering what the Redguard was thinking. Even without the help of the darkness, Nazir's face was decidedly blank as he rested a hand against the cave wall and followed after the vampire.

Hainin kept his sigh to himself and turned his gaze forward again. No sense trying to read Nazir at the present moment, especially when the whole trek to the Darkfall Cave had yielded in nothing but silent looks and shrugged off attempts at conversation.

Hainin and Nazir followed Serana through the darkness, although Hainin had his bow at the ready, in case something tried to jump out at them. Few torches lit the passage, but, thankfully, frostbite spiders weren't known for their silence.

Hainin heard the creature before he saw it. It crept out of an indent in the cave wall, eyes glittering in the nearby torch. He quickly drew an arrow back in his bow's string and let it fly into one of the eyes. The spider crumbled to the ground, and Serana shot him a grateful look, her own eyes bright in the torchlight.

"Thanks."

"Of course." Serana had had her fair share of spiders on this adventure. It was only right of Hainin to take on the task of killing them.

The three of them continued on down the passage, at the end of which they found a cavern of sorts, with a rickety looking bridge hanging across it. Hainin frowned at the bridge, and then glanced at his companions.

"I'll go across first," he said after a moment, "since I'm the heaviest."

"That's the stupidest idea you've had this entire journey," Nazir grumbled, speaking to him directly for the first time since they'd left Falkreath. "Serana should go first, since she's the lightest."

"How about none of us go first, and we try to see if there's another way across?" Serana suggested, getting in between them before a fight could spark from their disagreement.

Hainin kept his gaze on Nazir for a moment longer before taking a step back. "Fine. We'll try to find another way."

He moved further onto the ledge the bridge was built into, and attempted to peer across. There didn't appear to be anything waiting for them on the other side of the bridge.

He frowned to himself, wondering why someone had built a bridge that led to nowhere. Cautiously, he place a foot on the bridge itself. It wobbled dangerously beneath his weight, and he waited for it to settle before putting his other foot down as well.

"What are you doing?" Nazir hissed from where he stood beside Serana.

"There doesn't seem to be anything on the other side," Hainin replied. "I'm going to go see before we all risk trying to cross." He took another step forward, and the bridge wobbled again.

"Don't be an idiot, Hainin," Nazir said. "It's too dangerous."

Hainin ignored him and stepped forward again. This time, the whole bridge rocked, rather than just the spot he was standing, and he glanced over his shoulder.

Nazir had joined him on the bridge, and was reaching out a hand towards him. "Come off it," he ordered. "Now."

"I have to make sure there's nothing on the other side," Hainin insisted.

"Hainin, you're making this a lot more difficult than it needs to be," Serana said, watching as Nazir took another step towards the Listener. "You're going to get both you and Nazir killed!"

Nazir didn't stop moving towards him, and Hainin didn't start retreating back to their side. Serana cursed to herself, and then stepped onto the bridge as well, to force Hainin back over.

As soon as she did, there was a sickening crack. Hainin and Nazir locked eyes, and then they both were falling through the air. Hainin landed in the pool of water below the bridge with a splutter, but before he could gain his bearings, the current was forcing him down the conjoined river.

He splashed about helplessly in the water, gasping for breath and hoping that Nazir and Serana weren't drowning as badly as he was. He managed to keep his head above the water, and he watched, wide eyed, as the current dragged him closer to what appeared to be a cliff.

 _Not today_ , he decided, and he forced himself to turn about in the water. He struggled to wade backwards, against the current. Instead, he ended up colliding with one of his companions, and they both went sailing off the cliff into the deep pool at the bottom.

The rapids didn't stop there, however. Hainin grabbed onto whoever it was that had come with him as they were pushed further down the river and over a much smaller cliff. The river ended here in a small waterfall, that turned into an even smaller creek running over rocks.

Hainin peeled himself off of his companion, and found that it had been Nazir. The Redguard was coughing, and Hainin reached over to smack him on the back. Nazir hacked up the water that remained in his lungs, and he glanced at Hainin, a light of gratefulness in his eyes.

"Thanks," he said, sounding a bit gruff.

"No problem," Hainin answered, climbing to his feet. As he was reaching down to help Nazir up as well, he heard Serana's familiar gasp of panic.

"Hainin!" she exclaimed from somewhere close by.

Hainin quickly pulled Nazir up and then raced further into the passage, in the direction Serana's voice had come from. He found her backed up against a wall, with three hungry looking spiders standing before her. Her eyes were wide, and they met his from over the spiders, panicked.

Hainin quickly pulled out his bow and readied an arrow. He whistled, and drew the attention of the spiders. "Come at me instead, ya big uglies!" he said, and then took a shot at one. It made a home right in the top of the creature's head.

Before he could pull another arrow out of his quiver, Nazir sailed forward and swung his scimitar at one of the other spiders, grunting. Hainin smiled to himself and quickly finished off the last remaining one before hurrying forward to Serana, who'd crouched down on the ground, shivering.

"Hey, it's all right," Hainin said, settling down in front of her. "We took care of them. It's done."

Serana blinked at him a few times, and then she let out a shaky breath and nodded her head. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I just…"

"Everyone has a fear," Hainin assured, smiling at her. "Don't worry about it."

Serana exhaled again, and allowed Hainin to pull her to her feet. Nazir walked over to them, the spider he'd been fighting lying dead.

"Now what?" he asked, wringing out the edge of his robe.

"Now we keep going forward," Hainin responded. He gestured with his head, and then took the lead, heading up a small cliff to a natural bridge that formed over the two sides of the cavern they were now in. Serana and Nazir followed him across it, and then down this new path to the end of the creek. Waiting there was a dark passage, and a basin of flames.

"Who put these light sources here?" Serana wondered.

"I don't know," Nazir answered, "and I'm not sure we want to meet them, either."

"They could have already met the spiders," Hainin commented, starting down the new passage. He led the way through it to the end, where they found another small room, this one complete with a fire and a chest, as well as a bedroll and a dead Breton.

"Why would anyone want to set up camp here?" Serana asked, glancing around. Nazir went to the chest, and Hainin couched beside the Breton's body. He searched it for anything, and came across a folded up piece of parchment.

After reading it over, he snorted to himself and stood again.

"These people were living with what they thought were friendly trolls," he said, glancing at his companions. "Guess they found out how wrong they were."

Nazir was holding a small satchel of gold and a large healing potion. Hainin took the potion and slid it into Nazir's knapsack, before turning his attention to the passage leading further down into the cave.

"I imagine that… the trolls are down there," he said, pointing.

"And I imagine that we'll do our best to avoid attracting their attention," Nazir stated, slipping the coin purse into his robes. He started down the passage.

Hainin followed after him with no hesitation, and Serana did the same after a moment.

The newest passage led down into a dark cavern filled with pools of water. Hainin froze when he heard grunting echo off the walls, and his gaze fixed on a lumbering white shape that was across the cavern from his group.

He motioned to the troll, and Nazir pointed further ahead. Hainin followed his finger, and saw two more trolls, one sitting on the ground and the other scratching its rump and looking around.

Hainin placed a finger to his lips, and then gestured with his head for his companions to follow him as he sank into a crouch. Nazir and Serana followed his lead, and he began to creep forward, walking silently over the dirt path against one side of the cavern. The trolls didn't react to their presence even as they drew within sight, and Hainin wondered if they were blind.

Nazir nudged him from behind, and Hainin continued forward, not having realized he'd stopped. He moved past the trolls and around a curve before stopping again, and letting out a quiet "Huh," at what lay before him.

Sitting amidst a pool of water was a tall… pedestal of some kind, with a sort of sun symbol on the top of it. Nearby was an elf dressed in interesting white armor. He appeared to be praying at a shrine with a similar sun symbol, but he looked up as soon as Hainin turned his gaze to him.

"Come forward," he said, his voice soft. "You have nothing to fear here."

Hainin straightened up from his crouch, and glanced at his friends. Serana was studying the weird ruin-looking thing with the sun symbol.

"What's that?" she asked, stepping up to Hainin's shoulder. "I can feel some kind of power from it…"

"Maybe our friend here knows the answer," Nazir commented, rising as well. He walked towards the elf, and Hainin hurried after him, Serana right behind.

The elf tilted his head as he took them all in, and then he spoke again: "I am Knight-Paladin Gelebor. Welcome to the Great Chantry of Auri-El."

Hainin and Serana exchanged a look, and Nazir glanced around. "This cave is a temple to Auriel?" he asked, sounding disbelieving.

"Auriel, Auri-El, Alkosh, Akatosh…" Gelebor crossed his arms. "So many different names for the sovereign of the snow elves."

Hainin frowned at this. "You mean the Falmer." He suddenly realized why he hadn't been able to place this particular elf's legitimate name; it was because he wasn't a normal elf.

"I prefer snow elf," Gelebor said, frowning right back. "The name 'Falmer' usually holds a negative meaning to most travelers. Those twisted creatures you call Falmer, I call the Betrayed."

"Do you know why we're here?" Serana asked him, and Gelebor dipped his head.

"Of course. You're here for Auriel's Bow. Why else? I can help you get it -" Hainin's hopes soared. "- but I must have your assistance."

And then they fell.

"How'd you know we're here for the bow?" Nazir asked him.

"For the thousands of years I've served as the Chantry's sentinel, there hasn't been a single visitor here for any other reason," Gelebor explained. "They request Auriel's Bow, I request their assistance. It's been repeated so many times, I can't imagine it any other way."

Hainin hung his head. "Why type of assistance?"

"I need you to kill Arch-Curate Vyrthur… my brother," Gelebor answered.

Hainin's head rose, and he looked around at Serana and Nazir. Both were staring at the snow elf in confusion.

"Why?" Serana finally asked, and Gelebor sighed.

"The kinship between us is gone. I don't understand what he's become, but he's no longer the brother I once knew," he said quietly." His frown grew. "It was the Betrayed… they did something to him. I just don't know why Auri-El would allow this to happen."

"What did they do?" Nazir questioned.

"They swept into the Chantry without warning and began killing everyone without pause," Gelebor answered, his tone dark.

"And you didn't fight back?" Nazir asked, and Hainin had to wonder if he was getting dark flashbacks to the Penitus Oculatus attack on the Falkreath Sanctuary.

"The Chantry was a place of peaceful worship. I led a small number of paladins, but we were no match for the Betrayed's sheer numbers," Gelebor said. "They slaughtered everyone, and stormed the Inner Sanctum, where I believe they corrupted Vyrthur."

"So… you don't even know if he's alive?" Hainin queried, and Gelebor looked at him.

"He's alive. I've seen him." Hainin furrowed his brows. "Something's wrong with him. He never looks as though he's in pain or under duress. He just… stands there and watches, as though waiting."

"Have you tried getting into the Inner Sanctum?" Serana asked, and Gelebor shook his head.

"Leaving the wayshrines unguarded would be violating my sacred duty as a Knight-Paladin of Auriel," he stated. "And an assault on the Betrayed guarding the Inner Sanctum would only end with my death."

"Slow down," Hainin said, trying to process the words. "What's a _wayshrine_?"

"Let me show you," Gelebor replied. He then turned and headed towards the sun-symbol pedestal. Serana was the first to follow him; Nazir and Hainin did only after exchanging glances with one another.

Gelebor paused in front of the pedestal. He brought up his hands, and golden magic grew on the palm of one. Without warning, he shot a golden orb from his hand, and it hit the sun-symbol on top of the it with a sound similar to that of a bell. The three companions watched, transfixed, as the pedestal began to rise out of the ground. Hainin was surprised to see it hadn't been a pedestal at all; it was actually a small temple of sorts, inside of which was a basin.

"Snow elf magic," Serana said, smiling a bit. "Incredible."

The temple finished rising from the ground, and Gelebor gestured to it. "This structure is known as a wayshrine. They were used for meditation and for transport when the Chantry was a place of enlightenment. Prelates of these shrines were charged with teaching the mantras of Auri-El to our Initiates."

"And that basin in the center? What's that for?" Nazir queried.

"Once the Initiate had completed his mantras, he'd dip a ceremonial ewer in the basin at the wayshrine's center and proceed to the next one," Gelebor answered, turning to face it.

"So, these Initiates had to lug around a heavy pitcher of water," Serana sighed with a roll of her eyes. "Marvelous."

"How long would they have to do that?" Hainin asked.

"Well, once the Initiate's enlightenment was complete, he'd bring the ewer to the Chantry's Inner Sanctum," Gelebor told him. "Pouring the contents of the ewer into the sacred basin of the Sanctum would allow him to enter for an audience with the Arch-Curate himself."

"All that just to end up dumping it out?" Nazir snorted. "What's the point, then?"

"It's symbolic," Gelebor said flatly. "I don't expect you to understand."

"So, let's get this straight," Serana began. "We need to do all that nonsense to get into the temple, so we can kill your brother and claim Auriel's Bow?"

"I know how it all sounds," Gelebor said, "but if there was another way I'd have done it long ago." He turned to Hainin. "The only way to get to my brother is by following in the Initiates' footsteps and traveling from wayshrine to wayshrine, just as they did." He gestured to his wayshrine. "The first lay at the end of Darkfall Passage, a cavern that represents the absence of enlightenment."

"How many symbolic water basin temples are there?" Hainin sighed.

"Five, spread far apart across the Chantry."

Hainin frowned at that. "These caves must be massive."

"Caves?" Gelebor blinked, then chuckled. "Oh, no. The Chantry encompasses far more than a few caves, as you'll soon discover." He walked back over to his tiny shrine, picked something up, and returned to Hainin. "Here's your Initiate's Ewer."

"Is this allowed to exchange hands, or does that make it unholy?" Hainin queried, hefting the large pitcher.

"It may change hands," Gelebor said, rather patiently, Hain thought. "At each wayshrine, there will be a spectral Prelate tending it. They will allow you to draw waters from the basin as though you've been enlightened."

"Then I suppose we're off," Hainin commented. He glanced at the wayshrine, and blinked when he saw that a dark portal had opened up within one of the sections of the wall. He looked at Gelebor, who nodded to it in confirmation.

Hainin exhaled and looked at his companions. "Ready?" he asked.

"As I'll ever be," Serana replied, adjusting her pack.

"Red?" Hainin queried, and Nazir nodded.

Hainin turned to face the wayshrine again, and stepped up into it. He approached the dark portal, holding the ewer tightly, and stepped through.

When he did, he entered into a new cave. Small glowing plants lit up the passageway ahead of him, and he moved forward so that his companions would be able to get through as well.

Nazir came first, and Serana followed after, blinking.

"Well," she began, glancing around. "That wasn't as unpleasant as I'd thought it would be. Kind of soothing, actually."

"Yes," Nazir agreed. "I'm a bit warmer than I was." He let out a breath and nodded towards the ewer. "If you need me to take that -"

"I'll keep your kind offer in mind," Hainin responded, smirking.

Nazir returned it, and then Hainin gestured towards the passage. "Shall we traverse, companions?"

"I don't see any other choice," Serana said, glancing at Nazir, who shrugged.

"Lead on, Initiate," he invited, and Hainin rolled his eyes before turning and starting down the passage.

* * *

 **See, it's gonna be just fine.**

 **It's fine.**


	20. Complete Reconciliation

**I don't own Elder Scrolls V.**

* * *

After making their way through what Hainin can honestly describe as the oddest cave of his life, he and his companions stumbled upon the first wayshrine that Gelebor had mentioned.

They hesitated a few feet away from it, and exchanged glances with one another. "Should we…?" Hainin finally began, gesturing towards the ghostly figure before it with the ewer.

"What else are we supposed to do?" Nazir asked. "Gelebor said this is the only way."

Hainin exhaled, and nodded. He then closed the distance between himself and the ghost, who turned to him at his approach. It appeared to be an elf, and Hainin assumed it was one of those 'Prelates' that Gelebor had talked about.

"Welcome, Initiate," the elf greeted. "This is the Wayshrine of Illumination. Are you prepared to honor the mantras of Auri-El, and fill your vessel with his enlightenment?"

"Yes," Hainin said, not sure if there was any other response to such a question.

"Then behold Auri-El's gift, my child. May it light your path as you seek tranquility within the Inner Sanctum," the Prelate said, and then he turned towards the wayshrine.

Nazir and Serana joined Hainin, who shook his head. "Enlightenment isn't exactly what we're looking for, but… whatever you say, Prelate," he mumbled, loud enough for his companions to hear, but not loud enough for the elf, who had just shot the sun-symbol with a bit of magic.

The wayshrine grew out of the ground, and Hainin stepped towards the basin in the center in order to fill his ewer for the first time. When he had, another black portal appeared on the wayshrine's wall. He looked over his shoulder at his friends.

"Guess we're teleporting again," he commented, moving around the basin towards it. "Ready?"

"You first," Serana offered, gesturing towards it.

Hainin stepped through, and found himself standing in another cave of sorts. This cave, however, felt much, much different than the last one they had been in. Nazir and Serana followed him through the portal, and he shuffled closer to the Redguard.

"The air feels kinda…" He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

"Different," Nazir offered, stepping away from him.

Hainin missed him immediately, and he looked down at the pitcher in his hands. "Yeah, that's… that's a good description, definitely."

"All right, let's get going," Serana said, moving forward first. "We have four more of those wayshrines to find, and I have a sinking feeling that it's going to take a lot longer than I had hoped."

Hainin glanced at Nazir, but the Redguard avoided his gaze, instead following after Serana. Hainin sighed to himself, shifted the pitcher to his other hand, and went after them both.

The fairly obvious path led them up, out of the cave itself and to a ledge. From there, Hainin paused along with the other two and blinked at his surroundings.

It seemed like they were in Skyrim, but it was fairly obvious that they were not. They were faced with an open valley, complete with trees and plants and those odd deer they had just encountered in the cave with the first wayshrine, but everything had a strange purple hue to it.

It was like the Soul Cairn, but this place felt much more… alive.

"It's like a whole other world," Serana said in disbelief. She turned to look at Nazir and Hainin. "Come on. The bow has to be in this valley somewhere."

Hainin nodded in agreement, and as a signal for her to take the lead. He had a feeling she'd be able to lead them where they needed to go better than he would, especially when his mind was on so many other things.

Like Nazir.

As they trudged along the path Serana had set them on (a literal stone path in the ground), Nazir kept his eyes straight ahead, even though Hainin was certain that the Redguard knew he was watching him. It seemed as though their conversation from earlier had been all that he would be getting.

Frustrated, Hainin attempted to turn his attention to the task at hand. They needed to find the stupid wayshrines, and then find the bow. That was it. It wasn't the time for him to try, and fail again, most likely, to tell Nazir he loved him, too.

Serana began to lead them up into a snowy pass, where they encountered even more spiders, which Serana groaned at. Hainin passed her the ewer so that he and Nazir could deal with them, which they did in a matter of minutes. When all the spiders were dead, he took the pitcher back, and nodded towards the other end of the pass.

"I think a wayshrine's over that way. We're going the right direction."

Neither of his companions argued, and they continued on. Indeed, at the end of the pass, they encountered the next wayshrine. This one also had a ghostly Prelate standing in front of it, and he greeted Hainin cheerfully when he saw the ewer in his hands.

"You've reached the Wayshrine of Learning, Initiate. Are you prepared to honor the mantras of Auri-El, and fill your vessel with his enlightenment?"

 _This question's going to be repeated by every Prelate, isn't it?_

Aloud, Hainin said, "Yes."

"Auri-El bless you, child, for you are a step closer to the Inner Sanctum, and everlasting wisdom." The Prelate turned away and flashed some magic at the sun-symbol. The wayshrine rose out of the ground, and Hainin stepped into it to fill the pitcher.

"There's another portal," he informed the others.

Nazir poked his head into the wayshrine and frowned at the newest portal. "Wonder where that one'll go," he said.

"Should we take our chances, or just… keep walking?" Hainin questioned.

"I'd rather walk than risk another portal," Serana said earnestly.

And so that was what they decided on.

Eventually, they found the next wayshrine. The Prelate at this one informed Hainin that it was the Wayshrine of Sight, and asked if he'd like to honor the mantras of Auri-El.

Hainin did, of course.

"Then behold Auri-El's gift, my child. May it speed your journey to the Inner Sanctum." The Prelate raised the wayshrine from the ground, Hainin filled his ewer, and they were on their way again.

Eventually, they came across an icy valley, complete with a large wall of ice that had two beautiful waterfalls pouring down it. The waterfalls filled a very cold looking river in the center of the valley.

Hainin paused for a moment to admire the view, smiling to himself. It'd been awhile since he'd seen something so amazing.

Serana and Nazir, who'd been several feet ahead of him, paused when they realized that Hainin was no longer following. They exchanged a look, and then Serana gestured towards the Imperial, a knowing look on her face.

Nazir started to shake his head, but hesitated when Serana's eyes grew hard, and she gestured more fiercely. He then sighed to himself, and approached Hainin.

"Sorry," he apologized before Nazir could speak. "I just wanted to admire it for a moment." He looked at Nazir, and seemed surprised to see him. "Oh. I thought you were Serana."

"Are you all right?" Nazir asked him, and Hainin lifted an eyebrow. "I mean…" He trailed off and shook his head. "Never mind. Let's just keep moving." He turned and went back to Serana, leaving Hainin to frown to himself before following.

The three continued on down the valley, until they came to a rock face. Standing before it was a giant, but it was a _snow_ giant. Hainin balked at the sight of it, and Serana had to grab his arm and pull to keep him moving.

The three of them walked on, turning to their left to continue forward. Here, Hainin paused again, and blinked at the sight before him.

"Holy…"

A solid lake of ice was waiting for them. No cover anywhere in sight, and no way around. It was straight across, or nothing.

"Uh… is it just me, or… do you not trust that, either?" he asked his friends, pointing to the ice covering the lake.

"I don't see any other way, so we'll _have_ to trust it," Serana responded, although she didn't take the first step.

It was Nazir who did that, and he bounced up and down on the ice a bit to test it before looking at the other two. "I think it's all right," he said. "Come on."

Serana stepped gingerly onto the ice, and walked forward a bit. She then straightened her shoulders and continued on. Hainin remained where he was, not liking the idea of having to cross the frozen lake whatsoever.

Nazir glanced at him. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"When… when I was young, right after my parents had moved us to Skyrim… I went ice fishing with my father," Hainin started. "The ice wasn't as thick as we'd thought, and… I sort of fell through."

Nazir furrowed his brow. "You never told me that."

"I didn't think I needed to." Hainin offered him a wobbly smile. "Guess I was wrong, wasn't I?"

The Redguard looked towards Serana, who'd stopped to wait for them, and then he turned back to Hainin. "I promise that I won't let you fall through this lake, all right?" He held out his hand. "You can trust me."

Hainin immediately nodded in agreement, because he knew that already. Still, it took him a moment to actually reach out and take Nazir's hand. When he did, though, it felt like all his fear washed out of him, and he willingly stepped onto the ice, ignoring the creaking that came from it as he did so.

Nazir pulled him closer, smiling a bit now, and he only stopped tugging when they were nose to nose. "See? I've got you."

"All right, boys," Serana said, a hint of amusement in her tone. "Let's go before the ice does decide to crack."

Nazir tightened his grip on Hainin's hand, and led him after Serana. Hainin wasn't complaining in the slightest.

The three made their way across the frozen lake to the other end. Hainin kept his gaze on his and Nazir's hands, so that he wouldn't lose his nerve and freeze up in the middle of the trek. Nazir glanced back at him a few times, to make sure he was doing all right, and Hainin offered him a slight nod each time.

Eventually, they neared the other side, and Nazir ushered Hainin forward. Hainin was about to hop off the ice entirely when there was a disturbingly familiar sound of ice cracking from behind him. He was almost afraid to turn around, but he did when a sharp, icy sting struck him in the back.

He found two ice wraiths twisting around in the air above the freshly cracked lake. One was snapping at Serana, who was attempting to fend it off with her dagger, her other hand clutching the pitcher.

Hainin quickly pulled off his bow and shot at it. The ice wraith burst into shards and fell into the lake. Serana quickly turned to the second, but Hainin was already taking care of it. He shot it down as well, and then Serana looked over at him.

"Where's Nazir?"

If Hainin'd had any color left, he would have felt it drain from his face. He put his bow on his back and spun around, searching for the Redguard.

"Nazir!" he shouted, not seeing him anywhere.

"Hainin!" He turned back to Serana, and found her standing near a section of the lake that was still frozen, gaping down at it. Hainin raced over to her, and let out a strangled sound when he saw Nazir through the ice. The Redguard was pressing his face against it, and banging on it with his fist.

Hainin quickly pulled off his quiver and bow, tossing them to the ground. He then dove into the water that had been exposed by the broken ice. The cold hit him immediately, but he pushed through it, swimming in the direction he'd last seen Nazir. The ice settled over him as he swam, and he blinked, attempting to see through the dark waters.

Instead of seeing Nazir, however, he felt him. The Redguard brushed against his arm as he started to drift deeper into the lake, and Hainin grabbed him before he could go any further down.

Ice cracked above them, and Hainin swam towards the burst of light, pulling Nazir along behind him. He surfaced through the hole in the lake that Serana had broken for them, and with her help, dragged Nazir out of the water and onto land.

"Red," Hainin started, leaning over him. Nazir's eyes were closed, and water was streaming from his mouth and nose. Hainin pressed down on his chest several times, trying to dislodge any water that was inside him. "Don't do this to me, Red. Come on."

He pushed down on Nazir's chest repeatedly, settling into a rhythm. Serana stood nearby, her hands glowing, although she didn't think healing magic would do anything for Nazir while he was choking on water. Hainin pushed on his chest one last time, hard, and Nazir's eyes flew open. He coughed up a wave of water, struggling to sit up as he did so. Hainin helped him up, and rested his hand on Nazir's back as the Redguard shivered and coughed.

"Easy," Hainin advised. He motioned for Serana, who immediately pulled off her cloak and draped it around Nazir's shoulders. Hainin rubbed his back in an attempt to warm him up, the chill air settling around him uncomfortably. His vampireness must have prevented him from being freezing, as he should have been.

Nazir sat where he was for several minutes, just shivering and coughing every few moments. After a time, the coughing ceased, and he closed his eyes, leaning against Hainin for support, who gladly offered it to him.

"Thank you," the Redguard said, hoarsely.

"Couldn't just let you drown," Hainin answered, smiling to himself. He looked at Serana, who, thankfully, still had the pitcher in hand. He let out a relieved breath, and pressed his face against Nazir's shoulder. "Better?"

"A bit," Nazir replied. "Still fucking cold, though."

Hainin chuckled, and lifted his head. "Think you can move?"

"Probably best that I do," Nazir said. Hainin stood first, and then helped Nazir to his feet. The Redguard rocked a bit, but he steadied himself with Hainin's assistance, then looked at Serana. "Thanks for your cloak."

"Of course," Serana responded.

"We should get to the wayshrine up there," Hainin said, jerking his chin to the top of the hill that loomed in front of them.

"I'll do it, and then come back down, if you like," Serana suggested. "You two stay here." She nodded to Nazir. "Walk him around in a couple circles. I'll be right back."

Hainin watched Serana go, never feeling quite so grateful for the vampire as he did in that instant, and then he returned his attention to Nazir. The Redguard paced back and forth on his own a few times, and then he walked around in a small circle. Holding the cloak shut with one hand, he stretched out first his left arm, and then his right.

"I have all functionality," he reported, and Hainin smiled again.

"Well…"

"All right, all right," Nazir warned, giving him an amused look. "Not like we can check that sort of thing right now, though."

"Later, then?"

"Perhaps," Nazir replied. "When this is all over."

Hainin dipped his head. "Fair enough."

He watched Nazir walk around in another circle. Serana returned to them, then, and Hainin glanced at her as she approached. "What was the name of this wayshrine?"

"The Wayshrine of Resolution," Serana answered, speaking with an air of mystery.

"Fitting, isn't it?"

"Not exactly, since it isn't the last one," Nazir said, coming to a stop beside him.

He offered Serana her cloak back, and she took it in exchange for the pitcher. "Now where?" the Redguard queried, glancing around.

"Well…" Hainin looked around for a moment and, finding they couldn't go back across the lake, pointed forward. "That way?"

"Why not?" Serana asked, shrugging. "Not like we have any other choice." She started away first, and then Hainin glanced at Nazir.

"Are we…?"

"Yeah," Nazir answered, smiling a bit. "Come here." Hainin approached, and Nazir pulled him down to his level and pressed a kiss against his mouth. Hainin hummed in

contentment, and Nazir let him go. "Take your time, all right?" Hainin nodded after a moment, and then Nazir gestured with his head. "Let's move."

* * *

 **" _And here they come, come come_  
To the brightest thing that glitters  
Mm, fish dinners...  
**

 _ **I just love**_ **free** _ **food  
And you look like **_**sea** _ **food**_ **..** **."**

 **Sorry, I'm listening to _Moana_ 's soundtrack while I edit this chapter. Y'all should go check it out. The soundtrack. You're already checking out this chapter.**

 **Hey! Good idea! Go watch the movie/listen to the soundtrack, and then come back here and leave a review of what you thought of it. Or, if you've already watched/listened, leave me a comment right now telling me your favorite part/song.**


	21. Feel Again

**I do not own Elder Scrolls V, nor will I ever.**

* * *

"I am _never_ going near Forsworn again," Hainin decided as the three of them emerged from the worst part of their journey so far, a cave that had been full of Forsworn, and nothing but Forsworn. He'd used almost all his arrows taking care of them, and he was not happy about it.

"Look at it this way," Nazir said, gesturing towards the wayshrine they'd just discovered. "We made it though, and we found that."

"Yes, speaking of…" He took the pitcher out of Nazir's hands and marched over to the last ghostly Prelate that they would, hopefully, be speaking to. The Prelate smiled warmly at him, as though he had no idea what they'd just gone through.

"Welcome, Initiate, to the Wayshrine of Radiance," the Prelate said. "Are you prepared to honor the mantras of Auri-El, and fill your vessel with his enlightenment?"

" _Yes_ ," Hainin answered, holding up the pitcher.

"May the blessings of Auri-El protect you as you climb the road to the Inner Sanctum, and Final Enlightenment," the Prelate said. He turned to the wayshrine, and shot his magic at the sun-symbol. The bell sound echoed off the rock cliffs around them, and then the wayshrine rose from the ground.

Hainin ducked into it as soon as he could, and quickly dipped the pitcher into the water basin.

"Hainin!" He hurried back outside at Serana's call, and blinked at what he found his two companions gazing at.

The biggest building he'd ever seen was suddenly waiting for them between the walls of the mountain, only a short distance away. It certainly hadn't been there before, but now that it was, Hainin was not going to complain.

"That must be it," Serana said. "I've never seen a building like that before."

"It looks like a temple," Nazir decided.

"Whatever it is, it's what I've been wanting to see. Makes everything else worth it," Serana told them, and Hainin raised an eyebrow.

"I mean… that might be a bit of a stretch, but at least we're finally here," he said, adjusting his grip on the pitcher. "Come on."

He started across the bridge that connected where they were standing near the wayshrine to the big temple. Serana and Nazir followed right behind him.

When they made it across the bridge, Serana stopped in front of the big statue that Hainin had noticed in front of the building. "This is a statue of Auriel, but it's using the older signs of his power." She shook her head. "This temple must be ancient. The bow _has_ to be here."

Hainin started up the steps to the left of the statue. They led up to the temple itself, where he found an all too familiar looking basin.

"Should I pour it?" he asked Nazir and Serana, who'd come up behind him.

"I think so," Nazir said, gesturing to the big door that led inside the temple. "It looks like it's locked. Pouring the water probably unlocks it."

"All right," Hainin said, not doubting the logic. He tipped the pitcher over the basin, and all the water they'd spent so much time collecting poured out of it.

After a moment, a light appeared from somewhere, and beamed down on the sun-symbol embedded into the ground. Then, the sun on the door spun around several times, stopped, and split apart.

Hainin glanced at his companions. "Guess that means it's open."

"Then we should go in," Serana decided, stepping towards the doors. Without any hesitation, she pushed both open inwards.

Hainin, still clutching the Initiate's ewer, stepped into the temple first. The room the doors opened into was cold, and dark, and… full of frozen Falmer.

"These Falmer are frozen solid," Serana said, walking up to one.

Most of the Falmer were also holding things, either a potion or a weapon of some kind. One near the center, surrounding a shrine to Auriel, was holding a quiver of arrows, something that Hainin desperately needed.

Without thinking about it, he reached out and tugged the quiver from the Falmer's grip. He then backed away, slowly, and let out a relieved breath. He started to swing the quiver over his shoulder, and as he did so, the ice surrounding the Falmer he'd taken it from cracked and shattered, and an angry snow elf hopped towards him, hissing.

"Sithis!" Hainin exclaimed in disbelief, falling onto his rump as the Falmer tackled him to the ground. The creature brought up its hands to claw Hainin's face, but before it could, a blade sailed through its neck. Its head went flying, and the body was pulled off of him.

"New rule," Nazir said, holding out his hand to pull Hainin to his feet, "don't take things from the frozen Falmer."

"Fair enough," Hainin agreed, accepting his hand. He then showed off his quiver. "I did get new arrows."

Nazir shook his head, and Hainin looked around for Serana. She was standing near a pedestal that was standing in front of a section of wall, and she pointed to it, glancing over at them.

"I think the pitcher can go here."

Hainin shrugged, and carried it over. He set it down on the pedestal, and, immediately, the section of wall rose upwards, revealing a hallway.

"Secrets!" Hainin said, gleefully. "Stay here; I'll go see what waits for us."

"Be careful!" Serana advised as he ducked into the hallway and headed to his right. At the end, he found a door, which he pushed open. The door led into a different room, this one even colder and actually filled with snow and ice. Hainin glanced around, closing his arms around himself. There was nothing in sight, aside from a pair of skeletons.

"Well, damn," he muttered, his voice echoing. "This was a stupid secret." He turned, ready to return to his friends, and froze when he heard a soft grunt from behind him. Slowly, he glanced over his shoulder, his eyes widening when he found himself standing face to face with a snow giant.

"Oh -"

The giant let out a very angry sound, and stomped. The whole room seemed to shake. Hainin decided that he didn't want to be in there anymore.

Quickly, he about faced and ran from the room, back towards the secret door as fast as he could. He heard the giant running after him, still making that angry sound.

"Close the door!" he shouted.

"What?" Nazir yelled back.

"Closethedoorclosethedoorclosethedoor!" Hainin heard the sound of the wall falling, and he sprinted the rest of the way. Just as he reached the wall, he dropped into a roll and sailed through the remaining space. The door fell completely, and Hainin winced when he heard the giant run into the other side.

He shook his head, dazed.

"What happened?" Serana asked, and Hainin blinked up at her.

"Nothing. S'all right." He clambered to his feet, and let out a breath. "Let's… let's go the other way."

Nazir and Serana exchanged a look as Hainin walked away from the hidden door, which was being pounded on by something from the other side. They then quickly followed after him to make sure he didn't awaken anything else.

Hainin pushed open a large iron door that led into a smaller room, filled with more frozen Falmer. He led the way down the connected hall to the next room, and through that one to the bigger room on the other side. Here, however, he paused, and eyed the frozen chaurus that surrounded a Falmer.

"I hate it in here," Hainin decided, turning to look for a way out.

"Over this way," Nazir said, gesturing to a hole in the wall, that an icy draft was coming through. He took the lead this time, walking forward down the passageway and ignoring the obvious hidden areas that Hainin wanted to explore. After his most recent venture into a hidden area, however, he decided that it was best if he didn't.

The icy passage led on for a bit further, until the three came to a stop on a ledge that dropped down to another passage. Beyond it was, Hainin hoped, the final room, and where they would find Vyrthur.

"Everyone ready?" he asked his companions.

"I suppose," Serana answered. "I don't know what we're expecting, though."

"Me neither." Hainin rubbed his hands together. "Should be fun."

"Then let's go," Serana said, hopping down off of the ledge. Before Nazir could do the same, Hainin grabbed his arm and pulled him back. The Redguard glanced at him, looking puzzled, and Hainin swallowed.

"Just… be careful, all right?"

Nazir merely nodded, and then pulled out of his grasp and hopped down beside Serana. Hainin let out a breath, cursing himself, and jumped down as well. He then straightened his shoulders, drew his bow, and started down the small passage to the next room.

There, he found more frozen Falmer, and a not so frozen one, who was sitting in a throne-like seat beyond an array of sharp icicles and a wall of ice. Hainin marched right up to it, and tapped on the ice wall.

"Hey! You the Arch-Curate?" he demanded. "We _Initiates_ have been looking forward to meeting you."

In response, Vyrthur gave him a bored look. "Did you really come here expecting to claim Auriel's Bow?" he queried through the ice. "You've done exactly as I predicted, and brought your fetching companion to me."

"Which one?" Hainin asked him. "They're both pretty attractive."

Vyrthur ignored him. "Your usefulness is at an end!"

Behind him, ice shattered, and he heard Falmer begin to move around the room. Hainin twisted around, drawing an arrow back in his bow's string, and fired at one that was sneaking up on Nazir, who was already busy fighting another. The Falmer shattered into several pieces, and he then took care of a chaurus that was starting towards him.

More seemed to unfreeze even as they killed all the ones already moving, and Hainin grunted to himself as a Falmer struck him in the knee with a shard of ice. He went down, but managed to fire an arrow all the same, finishing off the last of them.

"An impressive display, but a wasted effort," Vyrthur exclaimed from behind him as Hainin struggled to regain his feet. "You delay nothing but your own deaths!"

The whole room rumbled, and Serana ducked as piece of rock fell from the ceiling.

"Watch out; he's pulling down the ceiling!" she shouted, turning to deal with a newly unfrozen Falmer. This one's hands flashed with purple lightning, and Hainin drew back an arrow, wanting to get rid of it as soon as possible.

"Finish them!" Vyrthur shouted.

"Hainin!" He turned at Nazir's voice, and found a Falmer coming up behind him. He used the arrow he'd been about to shoot at the one using magic to kill it, the quickly turned to help Serana. She was fending off the lightning as best as she could, but she needed help, badly.

Hainin pulled back his last ebony arrow and let it fly. It landed right in the Falmer's neck, and the creature shattered, finishing off the last of them.

"No," Vyrthur began, and Hainin turned in time to see him get enveloped in white light. "I won't let you ruin centuries of preparation…"

"Surrender and give us the bow!" Serana ordered.

"Death first!" Vyrthur declared, and then the white light shot away from him, destroying the entire room. Hainin flew away from the throne and landed on the ground, hard. His vision darkened for a moment, and then there was a hand on his back, shaking him awake.

"Are you all right?" Nazir asked him when his eyes opened.

"I think so," Hainin replied.

"Come on, we can do this. I know we can," Serana said, appearing in his sight as well. "He's up there on the balcony!"

Nazir helped him to his feet, and then the two assassins ran up the opposite staircase from Serana, so that they had Vyrthur surrounded. Serana drew her dagger as Vyrthur glared at them, cradling his arm.

"Enough, Vyrthur. Give us the bow!" Serana commanded.

"How dare you," the snow elf began. "I was the Arch-Curate of Auri-El, girl. I had the ears of a god!"

"Until the 'Betrayed' corrupted you. Yes, yes. We've heard this sad story," Serana said without an ounce of sympathy.

"Gelebor and his kind are easily manipulated fools," Vyrthur growled. "Look into my eyes, Serana. You tell me what I am."

Hainin glanced at his eyes, and blinked in shock at what he saw. Serana seemed just as surprised.

"You… you're a vampire?" she demanded. "But Auriel should have protected you…"

"The moment I was infected by one of my own Initiates, Auri-El turned his back on me," Vyrthur said in disgust. "I swore I'd have my revenge, no matter what the cost."

"You want to take revenge… on a god?" Nazir asked, sounding like he thought it was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard.

"Auri-El may have been beyond my reach, but his influence on your world wasn't," Vyrthur said. "All I needed was the blood of a vampire, and his own weapon, Auriel's Bow."

Hainin blinked in disbelief. _What_?

"The blood of a vampire… Auriel's Bow…" Serana trailed off and fixed the snow elf with a startled look. "It… it was you? _You_ created that prophecy?"

"A prophecy that lacked a single, final ingredient…" Vyrthur straightened up and stalked towards Serana, until he was standing right in front of her. "The blood of a pure vampire. The blood of a Daughter of Coldharbour."

Hainin drew an elven arrow, ready to shoot this bastard in the eye. Before he could however. Serana had him by the armor and was lifting him off the ground.

"You were waiting… all this time for someone with my blood to come along," she began, her voice a low hiss. "Well, too bad for you. I intend on keeping it. Let's see if your blood has any power to it!"

Before she could do anything, however, Vyrthur pushed off of her and landed on the ground again in a flash of orange light. As soon as he could see him again, Hainin let his arrow go, and it sailed into Vyrthur's arm.

Nazir and Serana went after him as well, blades flashing. Vyrthur flashed a sharp ray of ice in Hainin's direction, and he let out a grunt of pain before letting another arrow fly and falling to the ground.

"Hainin!" Nazir exclaimed, dodging another flash of ice.

Hainin struggled to gain his bearings. The ice had hit him directly in the chest, and he'd felt it travel up his neck and down into his legs. He twisted a bit, trying to reach his bow, but something within him constricted, and he was forced to simply lay there, shivering helplessly.

He heard one final cry of pain, and then there were hands on him, running over his entire form.

"Hainin… Hainin, you're a vampire!" Nazir exclaimed over the dimness of his hearing. "Ice should not be affecting you so badly."

He managed to get Hainin into a sitting position, and wrapped his, hopefully, warmer frame around the shivering Imperial. Hainin's shaking subsided after a moment, and he seemed to sink back into Nazir.

"You're so warm," he murmured, turning his head and pressing his frozen nose into Nazir's neck. He could smell the blood running through his veins, but all he wanted was to feel Nazir's heat pressed against him. Blood was the last thing on his mind. "Gods, I love you."

Something shattered, then, as both assassins realized what Hainin had said at the same time. Hainin stiffened against Nazir's chest, but the Redguard's grip around him went slack. Hainin quickly pulled himself out of Nazir's arms and twisted around so that he could face him.

Nazir gazed at him without blinking, but there was a small grin on his face. "There it is," he said. "You said it."

Hainin let out a relieved sigh, and quickly threw his arms around Nazir in a hug. "About damn time, I'd say."

"Not that this isn't beautiful, but… we have a bow to retrieve," Serana pointed out, eyeing Vyrthur's body.

Hainin pulled out of the hug and offered Nazir a smirk before standing up and pulling Nazir to his feet as well. He then followed Serana down the stairs towards the wayshrine that had appeared out of nowhere on the lower balcony. Gelebor stood before it, and he approached the three of them when he saw them.

"So, the deed has been done," he began. "The restoration of this wayshrine means that Vyrthur must be dead and the Betrayed no longer have control over him."

Hainin exchanged a glance with Serana and Nazir, before looking at the snow elf. "The Betrayed weren't to blame."

"What?" Gelebor asked, frowning. "What are you talking about?"

"Vyrthur was a vampire," Serana said. "He controlled them."

"A vampire?" Gelebor let out a slow breath. "I see. That would explain much." He looked at the three of them again. "Deep inside, it brings me joy that the Betrayed weren't to blame for what happened here. That means there's still hope that they might one day shed their hatred and learn to believe in Auri-El once again. It's been a long time since I felt that way, and it's been long overdue. My thanks, to the three of you."

"You're welcome," Hainin said. "Now…" He gave Gelebor a meaningful look, and the elf dipped his head in understanding.

"You risked everything to get Auri-El's Bow, and in turn, you've restored the Chantry. I can't think of a more deserving champion to carry it than you." He waved his hand towards the wayshrine, and a beam of light emitted from the center of it.

When it faded away, Hainin lowered his hand to see a golden bow floating a few inches above the basin, looking ethereal.

"If you wish to learn more about the bow, or obtain Sunhallowed Arrows for it, I'd be more than happy to help. You've but to ask," Gelebor finished.

He stepped out of the way of the wayshrine, and Hainin immediately jogged up to the bow.

Carefully, he reached out and closed a hand around it. It was warm, and almost seemed to pulsate. He plucked it from the air and shifted it to both hands, getting a feel for its weight. Definitely not his ebony bow, but it was impressive. The same dark portals as before appeared on the walls of the wayshrine, and Hainin turned to face Serana and Nazir, who'd joined him.

"Gelebor gave me these," Nazir said, offering a quiver of what seemed to be elven arrows, but what Hainin sensed were something else entirely.

Serana was gazing at the bow in Hainin's hands. "It's not as shiny as I would have thought," she said after a moment, "but still, it's beautiful."

"And now?"

"I think we all know…" Serana let out a breath and looked downwards for a moment. Her expression set, and then she glanced up at Hainin again. "It's time to face my father. If we don't, he'll chase us for the rest of our lives."

Hainin and Nazir exchanged a look, and then Hainin glanced down at the bow. "If we do, he'll have to die," he said at last, turning his gaze to Serana.

"I've been thinking about this for a long time," she started. "It's… it's not easy. But I don't think we have much of a choice." She shook her head. "No. This has to end here and now."

"Then we'll face him together," Hainin responded, his grip tightening on the bow. Nazir seemed a bit more hesitant, but he nodded all the same. Serana, however, was shaking her head again.

"If we head back to the castle and kick the front door in, we're going to be knee-deep in his friends." Nazir understood what she was implying, first, and he quickly shook his head, eyes hardening.

"I will _not_ go to them for help," he growled. "They held me hostage for a week just because Hainin was changed during a task _they_ sent us on!"

Hainin frowned at the Redguard, and then understood what he was talking about. He looked at Serana in disbelief. "You want us to ask the _Dawnguard_ to help us? After everything they have and haven't done?"

"It's our only choice," Serana said, understanding their frustration. "They are vampire hunters. We need their help, because there's no chance of the three of us taking on an entire castle of vampires on our own."

"Have you forgotten that two of us are vampires ourselves, and that they hate Nazir with a passion?" Hainin queried. "If any of us go to them -"

"We have the bow!"

"They won't care!"

Nazir watched this back and forth for a moment, and then he exhaled and rested a hand on Hainin's shoulder. "They'll care, if you change back first," he said, carefully.

"Oh, _now_ you're beginning to remember the whole reason I'm even here!" Hainin spat. "In case Babette didn't tell you, we didn't exactly come up with any ideas on how to do that."

Nazir's expression didn't shift, despite Hainin's tone. "I think you're underestimating how much regular people know about matters such as this," he said. "We need to get out of here, and then go to an inn."

"An _inn_?" Hainin asked, disbelieving. "What in the name of Sithis for?"

"Information," Nazir responded, exiting the wayshrine to ask Gelebor how to get out of the Chantry. Hainin looked at Serana, confused.

"Do you have any idea what he's talking about?"

"No," Serana admitted, "but… at least he has a plan." She followed after Nazir, and Hainin remained where he was for a moment before sighing to himself and doing the same.

* * *

 **I was going to type out more song lyrics but decided against it.**

 **We're very close to the end of Hainin's tale now, ladies and gentlemen, and then it's on to Ziris's, who's patiently waiting in the corner for her turn.**


	22. Another (Better) Change

**I do not own Elder Scrolls V, nor will I ever.**

* * *

"I'm sorry, but what, exactly, are we doing here?" Hainin asked, hopping down out of the carriage after Serana. Nazir was already almost to the doors of the Four Shields Tavern, and he pushed into the building without answering Hainin's question.

The Listener exhaled in frustration and looked at Serana, who'd stopped to wait for him. "What is he doing?" he asked. "First he decides that we have to come to Dragon's Bridge, and then he just heads into the tavern without telling us what we're doing here?"

"He must have some sort of plan," Serana said as the started towards the inn's doors as well.

Hainin snorted. "It'd be great if he could _tell_ us what it _is_."

Before he could push open the door, Nazir reappeared, smiling to himself. They almost ran right into one another, but Hainin staggered backwards before they could, surprised.

"Gods," he said, huffing. " _What_?"

"You didn't let the carriage leave, did you?" Nazir asked, scooting past them to the ground again. "We have to go to Morthal."

Serana and Hainin exchanged a look. " _Morthal_?" Hainin demanded, following the Redguard back towards the carriage. "What for?"

"To change you back into a human!" Nazir said over his shoulder. "Aren't you keeping up at all? By the Sands." He paused by the carriage driver. "Morthal."

"That'll be fifty gold, friend," the driver responded. "Long way from here, over the marshy grounds, too."

Nazir rolled his eyes at the outrageous price, but all the same handed the driver a small coin purse, and then he joined Serana and Hainin again. "What're you standing here for? Get in," he ordered, gesturing to the carriage.

Serana sighed, but all the same climbed back into the carriage. Hainin glared at Nazir a moment longer before following her lead. Once Nazir was seated, the driver clicked his tongue at the horse, and they were off again.

"Sorry, so, what's in Morthal?" Serana queried, frowning at Nazir.

"Someone who might know how to help Hainin," Nazir replied, shrugging.

"And… you decided to go asking innkeepers about this mysterious figure because… you were given a vision?" Hainin queried, not lacking sarcasm.

Nazir gave him an exasperated look. "No," he said slowly. "I asked the innkeeper what they knew about vampires, and they mentioned someone in Morthal who knows a lot about them." Hainin and Serana merely continued to gaze at him skeptically, and Nazir crossed his arms. "What else are we supposed to do? The Dawnguard will kill the both of you before looking at you, and I don't want to go to them alone, because they probably aren't beyond killing me, either."

"I'm just confused as to when you decided that innkeepers know more than books," Hainin said.

"When I was staying in Winterhold, I spent a lot of time in the Arcanum, and in the inn," Nazir replied, leaning back against the carriage. "You'd be surprised by how much innkeepers know, especially about things that normal people fear."

"Why didn't you ask Winterhold's innkeeper about vampires, then?" Serana asked.

"You think I didn't?" Nazir shook his head. "Winterhold is as far north as holds go. It was a surprise that vampires attacked because there's absolutely nothing that direction. I figured we needed to talk to an innkeeper closer to the vampire menace." He gestured in the direction that Dragon's Bridge lay. "Thus… Dragon's Bridge. Low and behold, he knew just what we needed to know."

"And you think this person will know how to help me?" Hainin questioned, wanting to make sure he'd gotten all this right.

"Exactly," Nazir stated, crossing his arms. "His name is Falion."

After that, silence settled over the three in the carriage as it rolled along towards Morthal. Hainin didn't know what to think. It seemed impossible that, after all the reading he and Babette had done, that an _innkeeper_ of all things would point him in the direction of being cured.

Still. Stranger things had happened, he supposed.

After some time, Hainin felt a nudge against his arm, and he glanced sideways at Serana. "What?"

"Are you ready for this?" she asked him, and he frowned at her in confusion. "I just… I mean that it might… be painful."

"How do you figure?" Hanin questioned.

"Well… _becoming_ a vampire is pretty bad, right? I can't imagine that changing back is any less awful," Serana responded. "I just wanted to know if you were ready to go through it again."

Hainin gazed at her for a moment, memories of the changing process flashing back to him. He remembered the darkness tinged by red, the burning that had lasted ages…

He shook off the memories, and glanced at Nazir, who was watching them both. He offered Hainin a grin when their eyes met, and Hainin returned it, before looking at Serana again.

"I think I'll be all right," he said.

Serana seemed to think otherwise, but she didn't say anything else. Instead, she merely nodded, and faced forward again.

They reached Morthal before the sun set, and Hainin hopped out of the carriage first, before reaching up to help Serana out behind him. When Nazir landed on the ground, Hainin gestured towards the waterfront town.

"Where do you think this Falion is?" he asked.

Nazir gazed around for a moment, and then he pointed. "I'd bet that's him over there."

Hainin followed his finger and watched as a hooded figure came over the top of a hill and started down it in the direction of one of the buildings. He was carrying a basket on one arm, and had a book cradled under the other.

Hainin watched him enter the building, and then he shrugged. "Guess even if he isn't we can ask where Falion actually is," he said. "Let's go."

The three of them headed towards the building that the figure had gone into, and Hainin lifted his fist to knock. There was a muttered curse from the other side of the door, and then it was being pulled open. A Redguard stood on the other side, the hood he'd been wearing before pushed back.

"If you've come here to accuse me of sacrificing children, or eating the hearts of the dead, you may save your breath," he growled. "I have done no such thing, nor do I intend to. I simply wish to live my life in peace."

Hainin exchanged a glance with his friends, and then he smiled and looked back at Falion. "So… what do you do, then?"

"I keep to myself," the Redguard grumbled. "I offer spells and scrolls to those who need them, and wisdom in Conjuration magic for those who wish to learn." His eyes darkened as he pushed the door open wider, and crossed his arms. "Beyond that, I seek only to be left alone to pursue my research."

"We've heard you're also an expert in vampirism," Nazir said before Hainin could.

"I know many things," Falion began. "I have studied things beyond the reach of most humans, traveled the Oblivion planes, seen things one should not see."

"Me too," Hainin put in, and Serana rolled her eyes.

"I have met Daedra, and Dwemer, and everything in between." Falion's gaze landed on Hainin. "And I know enough to see a vampire, where others would see a man."

Hainin lost his grin immediately. "How…?"

"I have met several of your kind during my studies of life-extending magics," Falion answered. "I even considered becoming a vampire myself. In the end, vampirism would endanger my ward Agni, which would defeat the intended purpose."

"Trust me," Hainin started, "you made the right decision." Falion didn't say anything, and Hainin exhaled. "I'm… I'm looking for a cure, myself. My change was an accident, and I want to undo it, as soon as possible."

Falion stared at him for a moment, and then he uncrossed his arms. "There is a way. I know of a ritual, but… I have never performed it."

"I'm willing to do anything," Hainin told him.

"Hm." Falion examined him again. "I don't doubt it. The ritual requires a filled black soul gem. You will have to kill someone."

At the words _black soul gem_ , Hainin's grin had immediately returned. Without speaking, he reached into the pouch that held the black soul gems he'd received in the Soul Cairn, and pulled one of them out. It pulsated lightly as he held it up for Falion's inspection.

The Redguard didn't seem surprised. He reached for it, and Hainin handed it over without argument. "Very well," he said. "Meet me at the summoning arch in the marsh at dawn." He glanced at Serana momentarily, and then turned back to Hainin. "We will banish the creature that you have become."

"Thank you, Falion," Nazir said, and the Redguard grunted before turning away, closing the door behind him.

"I knew those black soul gems would come in handy!" Hainin said happily to Serana as the three of them headed for the marshes.

"He doesn't seem to like vampires very much," Serana murmured, almost to herself.

"He was going to become one himself," Hainin reminded her. "I doubt he hates them."

"He mentioned someone, a ward named Agni," Serana went on, barely paying attention to Hainin. "He said that becoming a vampire would've put her at risk."

Hainin shrugged. "Obviously she's a child who lost her parents," he said. "What does it matter?"

Serana didn't seem willing to push it away so quickly. "Hainin… where did you first see the vampires, and become curious as to what was going on?"

"Uh…" Hainin thought about it for a moment, and then he blinked. "Oh. Here, in Morthal. One attacked my horse, and he killed it." He stopped walking, and Serana did too, willingly. Nazir paused only when he realized they weren't going to keep going. "Why?"

"I think…" Serana hesitated, and glanced around to make sure no one was listening, before leaning towards the two of them. "I think there might be a group of vampires with a hideout nearby."

Hainin frowned at her, and Nazir crossed his arms. "Vampires connected to your family?" he asked, and Serana shook her head.

"Rogues, who've been staying near the city to take advantage of the people living here." Serana straightened her shoulders. "I'm going to find them and take care of them."

"On your own?" Hainin exclaimed.

"You need to stay here and change back," Serana replied, "and I'm not taking Nazir and leaving you alone."

"If there are vampires living around here, and you go to 'take care of them', won't you be in danger?" Nazir questioned.

"I can't just let them go on attacking people," Serana said. "I'll be fine, and I'll be back before dawn."

"Serana," Hainin started, but before he could say anything more, she turned and jogged off. "Dammit."

"She's strange, that one," Nazir commented.

"She's a pain in the ass," Hainin grumbled back, but all the same he turned and continued on towards the marshes. Nazir followed after a moment.

It didn't take them long to find the summoning circle, or the skeleton that was roosting there. Nazir killed it quickly, and then turned to find Hainin had settled down against one of the large stones around the circle.

He slid his scimitar away, and moved to sit next to him. They sat in silence for a long time, watching as the sun finished setting behind the mountain in the distance. When darkness had settled, Hainin leaned his head against Nazir's shoulder.

"All right?" Nazir asked him, and Hainin shrugged.

"I guess we'll find out, won't we?"

More silence. Hainin listened as Nazir slowly drifted off into sleep, his breathing deepening and the air around them filling with his light snores. Hainin smiled to himself as he listened to them, and then he closed his eyes, inhaling.

The sharp scent of Nazir's blood filled his senses immediately, and Hainin bit down a growl that worked its way into his throat. The last thing he needed to be doing was thinking about Nazir's blood.

He carefully moved away from Nazir so that he wouldn't wake him, and stood up, stretching a bit. He hadn't realized it before, but he was incredibly thirsty. He would've given anything for one of those blood potions of Serana's, but they'd finished off all the ones they'd found in Valerica's lab.

He would just have to deal with it. He could do that, at least until dawn, and then he'd never have to deal with it again.

Hainin exhaled and leaned against a different rock, swallowing thickly. It couldn't be difficult, to ignore it. Serana hadn't complained once. Then again, Serana had been a vampire a whole lot longer than he had.

"Hainin?"

"Hmm?"

Nazir had woken up, and Hainin listened as he stood. "Did I sleep long?"

"About an hour," Hainin answered. "You don't have to wait up, Red. Get some rest."

"Aren't you bored?" Nazir asked him.

"No," Hainin replied. "Actually, I'm extremely busy."

Nazir was silent for a moment as that settled in, and then he released a small sound of understanding.

"Do you…?"

"No."

"But, Hainin -"

"I'm all right," he insisted. "Really. I just need you to… stay back."

Nazir exhaled audibly, and Hainin stiffened when he heard him take a step forward. "Hainin, it's pointless for you to suffer until dawn," he said. "Let me help."

"I don't… I don't want to put you through that, again," Hainin replied. "I'll be fine." Without speaking, Nazir continued forward until he was right beside Hainin. "Nazir…" He trailed off when Nazir moved between him and the rock, and he swallowed again. "Don't do this," he whispered hoarsely. "Please."

"I want to help." Nazir placed his wrist right under Hainin's nose, and Hainin winced as his hearing picked up Nazir's pulse. "Let me."

Hainin forced his eyes to open, and he met Nazir's through the darkness. The Redguard blinked. "Drink."

Without allowing himself to think about it, Hainin took hold of Nazir's arm and sank his teeth into his wrist. Nazir closed his eyes and let out a breath. Hainin didn't let himself drink for very long, and he pulled away from Nazir after only a minute or two, panting.

"Not so bad," Nazir said, taking his arm away. He blinked, feeling a bit woozy, and leaned back against the rock. "Huh."

"What?" Hainin asked, wiping at his mouth.

"Probably shouldn't've let you do that when I haven't eat anything," Nazir replied absently. "That's all."

"You all right?" Hainin questioned, worry evident in his voice, and Nazir nodded.

"I'll be fine. I'm just a little dizzy."

"Here." Hainin took his arm and helped him to the ground. Nazir settled down gratefully, closing his eyes, and Hainin sat down beside him. "Better?"

"Mhm."

Hainin let out a relieved breath and leaned his head back against the stone. "Thank you."

"Sure," Nazir said. "Don't worry about it."

"You sure you're all right?" Hainin asked him.

Nazir let out a sleepy hum in response, and Hainin jumped to attention. "Red? Don't… don't go to sleep. That's not a good idea right now." He reached over and patted Nazir's cheeks. The Redguard let out an annoyed grunt and turned his head away. "Red! Stay awake!" Hainin exclaimed.

"I"m awake," Nazir muttered. "By the Sands."

"Keep talking," Hainin ordered. "You need to be doing something."

"What should I talk about?" Nazir queried.

"Uhm…" Hainin glanced around for a moment. "I'm thinking of a person."

"Who?"

"Yes or no questions, Red."

Nazir grumbled to himself for a moment. "Is it… a woman?"

"Yes," Hainin replied.

"Is she… is she blonde?"

"No."

"Redheaded?"

"Nope."

"Dark haired, then," Nazir said.

"Yes."

"Is it Serana?"

"No."

"Who else could it be?" Hainin didn't say anything, and Nazir cursed. "Do we both know her?"

"Yep."

"Personally?"

"... I don't know if I'd go that far."

Nazir didn't say anything for a moment, and then: "Is she well known?"

"Her title is," Hainin responded.

"Aha." Nazir chuckled tiredly. "I know who it is."

"Do you?"

"Yes. It's Ziris Coldwater, Guild Master of the Thieves Guild."

Hainin smiled. "Good job."

That was how the night went on. Just as the sun was beginning to peak over the mountains to the east, Serana appeared. Hainin took note of the tear in her sleeve, but he didn't say anything, especially when he saw her expression.

"Were you right?" Nazir asked her, and she nodded shortly.

"They're gone."

Nobody said anything after that, and, before long, Falion was coming over the marshes as well, cradling the black soul gem in one hand. Hainin scrambled to his feet, and helped Nazir up as well. When Falion reached them, he ushered Nazir and Serana off of the summoning circle, and then he moved Hainin to the center of it.

"All right," Hainin said, straightening his shoulders. "Let's… let's get this over with."

"As you desire," Falion replied, and then he set the black soul gem down by Hainin's feet, and backed away a few steps. He then raised his arms in the direction of the rising sun. Hainin relaxed as he began his speech.

" _I call upon Oblivion realms. The home of those who are not our ancestors. Answer my plea!_

 _As in death there is new life, in Oblivion there is a beginning for that which has ended._

 _I call forth that power! Accept the soul that we offer!_

 _As the sun ends the night, end the darkness of this soul, return life to the creature you see before you!_ "

Almost immediately, Hainin felt an odd warmth wash over him, and he shivered a bit from the shock of it. His vision darkened as the warmth overwhelmed him to an impossible degree.

The heat only lasted for a few seconds, but it seemed to linger for much longer than that as Hainin's vision slowly returned to him. He found Falion standing where he had been before. Nazir and Serana was standing nearby, their expressions mixed between worry and hopefulness.

"It is done," Falion said.

"I… I'm human again?" Hainin asked, glancing down at himself, and Falion nodded.

"As you wished to be."

Hainin let out a breath, and hurried out of the summoning circle towards the water that lined the marshes. He leaned over the bank, and peered down into it. Slowly, his reflection came into focus, and he blinked when he saw that his eyes were no longer orange. Instead, his normal, green eyes blinked back at him.

"I'm back," he said to himself, sitting up. He stood and turned to face Nazir and Serana. "I'm back!"

"Congratulations," Serana said.

Hainin looked at Nazir, exuberant, but frowned when he saw the expression on Nazir's face. "What's the matter?"

"I just…" Nazir trailed off and stepped forward, taking Hainin's arms in his hands. Hainin stood still as Nazir examined him from foot to face, his gaze lingering on Hainin's. "You really are back," he said softly, moving one hand to the back of Hainin's neck.

Hainin grinned widely, and leaned forward until their foreheads were pressed together. "Just like I said," he replied cheerfully.

"Thank the Gods," Nazir said, and then he hugged Hainin tightly with a laugh. Hainin returned it, inhaling and relieved to find that the only thing he smelled on Nazir was three days of travel and the faintest hint of death.

When he pulled away, Nazir caught his lips with a kiss, and Hainin fell into it without argument, chuckling all the while.

"All right, all right," Serana said after a moment. "I'm happy for you, really, but… we need to get to the Dawnguard, and quickly."

Hainin broke off the kiss, and rested his forehead against Nazir's again, meeting his eyes. Nazir smiled at him.

"Thank Sithis for those green eyes," he murmured. "I missed them."

"Me too," Hainin admitted, and then he pulled away, turning to Serana. "Let's get ourselves a carriage."

Serana nodded, and headed back towards Morthal ahead of them. Hainin slid his hand into Nazir's before they followed.

A day later, Hainin and Nazir found themselves being escorted into Fort Dawnguard again, only this time they weren't bound, and there was only one member leading the way, and they were accompanied by Serana, who seemed to be extremely on edge, understanding than any of the people they encountered would willingly kill her if given the opportunity.

"You have a lot of nerve coming back here," Celann growled. "Especially with that… thing."

"This 'thing' has been more helpful than any of you lot this entire time," Nazir muttered.

"Where are the Elder Scrolls?" Celann queried. "Isn't that what you were meant to be searching for?"

Before Nazir could retort, Isran appeared and approached where they stood. His eyes narrowed as he took in Hainin, and then Serana, before he turned to Nazir.

"You're either the bravest man I've ever met, or the stupidest," he growled. "What are you doing here?"

"We're here to help you," Hainin said, stepping between Isran and Nazir. He gaze Isran a pointed glare as he pulled Auriel's Bow off of his back and held it towards him. " _This_ is what's keeping the vampires from doing what they want. Now that we have it, we need your help to take them down."

Isran took the bow from him after a moment, and held it in one hand, testing its weight. He then flipped it over and examined the string for a moment, before he glanced up at Hainin. "What is it?"

"Auriel's Bow," Hainin responded. "It's meant to put out the sun. We're going to use it to kill Lord Harkon instead."

Isran's eyes had widened considerably at the name, and he looked back down at the bow. "This… is Auriel's Bow?" he asked in disbelief, and Hainin nodded. "I… I've heard it described in tales, but… I couldn't have imagined its beauty."

Hainin managed to keep from rolling his eyes. It was amazing how a person's opinion could change when they were told something miraculous. Isran looked back up at him, and handed the bow back over.

"The day hasn't been won while Harkon still walks Tamriel," the Redguard said. "You aim to attack the castle?"

"We do," Hainin replied. "To end this once and for all."

Isran turned his gaze towards Serana, who crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. "What about that? Can it be trusted to lift a blade against its own kind?"

"Against my family?" Serana finished for him. "Yes, I believe I can."

"She can be trusted to do the right thing," Hainin stated.

Isran didn't seem convinced. "I suppose that's as much as I can hope for," he muttered after a moment. He turned back to Hainin. "Let me address the Dawnguard, and then we'll be off. The men deserve to know that we've finally gained the upper hand."

 _Sure, even though they literally did nothing,_ Hainin thought to himself, but he nodded nonetheless, and backed away. Isran summoned everyone to the main chamber as Hainin pulled Nazir and Serana off to the side.

"I hate people who think they can take the credit for something they didn't do," he muttered under his breath.

"At least they're going to help us," Nazir pointed out. "As much as we don't like them, we need them, and as soon as Harkon is dead, we won't ever have to deal with them again."

"Admittedly, that's the only thing that's keeping me going," Hainin responded, and Nazir chuckled. Hainin then turned to Serana. "Are you going to be all right?"

"I've been preparing myself for this the entire time we've been together," Serana answered softly. "I know what I must do, and I will not hesitate to do it."

Hainin gazed at her for a moment, and then he nodded in acceptance.

"This is the time of the Dawnguard!" Isran shouted, to raucous cheers from the rest of the Dawnguard. Hainin and Nazir exchanged a look of amusement, and then Isran approached the three of them. "We're taking the battle right to their front door," he said. "Meet us there in two days time. We're going to end this."

Hainin nodded in agreement, and Isran turned away again, walking off. Hainin looked at his friends. "We ready?" he asked them, and they exchanged a look, before nodding in response to him. Hainin nodded back, and led the way towards the doors of the fort.

* * *

 **All roight, ladies and gents. We're getting close to the legit climax now. Let's make it a good one, shall we?**


	23. The End (But Not The Epilogue)

**I do not own Elder Scrolls V, nor will I ever.**

* * *

Hainin dodged a vampire that was attempting to slash at him with a dagger, and retaliated by firing an arrow in its direction. It hissed at him as it skimmed its arm, but before it could do anything more to him, Nazir jumped at it from behind, swinging his scimitar. The sharp blade went clear through the vampire's neck, and it collapsed to the ground.

Hainin gave Nazir a grin, and the Redguard winked back, yanking his scimitar from the vampire. "Where's Serana?" he asked.

"I don't know," Hainin answered, jumping out of the way as a Dawnguard chased a vampire down a set of stairs. "I told her to stick with me so we could fight Harkon together, but she disappeared." Realization slowly settled in, and he turned wide eyes towards Nazir. "Oh no."

Together, they raced up a nearby staircase to the double doors at the top, and Hainin shoved against them with his shoulder. They fell open heavily, and Hainin flew into the room behind them, hoping to find Serana on the other side.

Instead, he found a library of sorts.

"Damn," he muttered under his breath, turning and hurrying back down the stairs with Nazir on his heels. He ran up onto a balcony overlooking the main hall of the castle. "Serana!"

"Hainin!" He turned at Nazir's voice, and saw him point towards a different set of stairs. "She just went up there!"

Hainin hurried towards where Nazir was, and stared at the big doors facing them at the top of the stairs Serana had gone up. He let out a breath, and turned to Nazir. "Stay here."

"You're kidding."

"No, I'm not," Hainin answered. "Harkon is very powerful, and -" He cut off when Nazir grabbed the front of his armor and pulled his mouth down to his.

He kissed him, deeply, and then pulled back long enough to say, "Listen to me, Hainin Marshal. You're an idiot if you think I'm not going in there with you."

"But -"

"No," Nazir said shortly. "We're doing this together, got it? I'm not letting you out of my sight, especially around vampires."

Hainin let out a breath, and then he nodded. "Fine. We're wasting time. Let's get in there."

He started up the stairs, holding Auriel's Bow out in front of him, and didn't hesitate in pushing open the large doors. They fell open with a bang, and he found himself gazing around a cathedral of sorts. Definitely the kind of place to have a fight.

"Hainin, what are you doing?" Serana hissed, hurrying over to him.

"I told you we were going to fight him together!" Hainin replied hotly.

"I snuck away so that you wouldn't be put in danger," Serana growled, and she gestured furiously to Nazir, who'd just entered the room. "And now you've dragged Nazir into this, too."

"Relax," Hainin said. "It doesn't even look like he's in here."

"Serana, my darling." Hainin stiffened at the familiar voice, and he looked up in time to see Harkon descend from the ceiling in his evil, master vampire form. He flew over to where the three of them stood, smiling wickedly. "I see you still favor keeping a pet or two."

"You know why we're here," Serana growled, putting away her dagger. Hainin followed her lead closer to where Harkon was floating, sliding the bow away as well. Nazir remained near the doors, closing them so that there would be no intruders, and no escape.

"Of course I do," Harkon responded. "You disappoint me, Serana. You've taken everything I provided for you and thrown it all away for this…" Harkon waved a hand at Hainin. "... pathetic being."

"'Provided for me'? Are you insane?" Serana demanded, putting her hands on her hips. "You've destroyed our family. You've killed other vampires. All over some prophecy that we barely understand." She drew her dagger again, and fell into a defensive stance. "No more. I'm done with you. You will not touch him, or Nazir."

"So," Harkon began, his smile returning. "I see this dragon has fangs. Your voice drips with the venom of your mother's influence. How alike you've become."

Hainin saw Serana stiffen. "No," she said. "Because unlike her, I'm not afraid of you. Not anymore."

Harkon stared at Serana for a moment, before his gaze turned towards where Hainin was standing a few steps behind her. "And… you…" He flew closer, and Hainin forced himself to remain in place. "It appears I have you to thank for turning my daughter against me. I knew it was only a matter of time before she'd return with hatred in her heart."

"Hatred born of nothing but your neglect," Hainin informed him.

"A small price to pay for the betterment of our kind," Harkon decided dismissively. Hainin merely snorted. "Yes, yes, I know. Always the noble vampire hunter. That has been your goal this entire time, hasn't it? And what happens when you've slain me? Is Valerica next? Is Serana?"

Hainin winced at the idea of slaughtering either of them, or Babette, and he narrowed his eyes at Harkon. "You know that killing vampires isn't the important thing, here," he said.

"Ah, of course," Harkon said. "The prophecy. You've come here to stop me from taking Auriel's Bow and shrouding the world in darkness." He smiled again, though this time, it seemed forced. "Whatever you may think your goal is, you're really only here to see the destruction of our kind."

"That's where you're wrong, Lord Harkon," Hainin informed him, "because, despite what you may think, I was never a vampire hunter. The only thing I've ever been is an assassin. And, right now, you have the biggest price on your head." Hainin reached for the Bow, and drew one of the special arrows that Gelebor had given him back in the string.

Harkon didn't seem bothered. "I'll give you a single chance to turn over the bow to me. There will not be a second."

Hainin smirked. "You wish."

"Very well, then," Harkon said darkly, his eyes glowing. "You leave me no choice." He flew backwards away from them, a flash of purple energy bursting from his hand. From it emerged a gargoyle. "I'll rend the flesh from your bones!"

"Hainin, look out!" Serana exclaimed, and Hainin swung around to fire an arrow at the gargoyle, which had picked him as its target. The arrow hit the gargoyle square in the eye, and the beast fell to the floor with a loud crash. Hainin quickly drew another arrow and turned, searching the room for Harkon. The vampire had disappeared, however, and Hainin frowned in confusion, spinning around.

As he did so, Harkon reappeared directly in front of him, howling, and Hainin fired his arrow without thinking about it. It sailed past Harkon, just barely skimming his arm, and he growled, lifting his arm and firing a bolt of red energy at Hainin.

The assassin fell to the floor in a roll, drawing back another arrow as he did so. He rolled up onto his knees and let it fly. It landed in Harkon's shoulder, and the vampire shrieked as he burst into flames.

"Whoa," Hainin said, blinking. He looked down at the bow, wondering how that was even possible, but before he could think about it for too long, Nazir was at his side, shoving against his shoulder.

"Move!" the Redguard exclaimed, and they ducked out of the way long enough to avoid another pulse of red energy that came from Harkon.

The vampire snarled, and disappeared in a cloud of bats.

"Why can't you do that?" Hainin asked Serana, who's hand was blue from all the ice spikes she'd been firing at her father.

"I'm not a master vampire!" she said, firing yet another as a skeleton that had been lying in the corner of the room came to life and charged at her. "Over there!"

Hainin turned in the direction she'd indicated, and saw Harkon standing on one of the balconies of the cathedral. "It ends here!" the vampire declared, his fist glowing red. Hainin readied an arrow and let it fly.

This one didn't set the vampire on fire, but it did land squarely in his chest. Harkon let out a grunt of pain, and ripped the arrow from his body. His fist changed to purple, and Hainin dodged out of the way just in time to avoid a gargoyle charging directly at him.

Nazir killed it off for him with a few quick stabs and slices, and Hainin went back to firing at Harkon, who'd flown across the cathedral to the other balcony. Serana had charged up the stairs in his direction, but he disappeared. Hainin watched the cloud of bats fly down towards him, and he backed away, readying another arrow.

"Die, mortal!" Harkon shrieked, reappearing. He slashed at Hainin, who responded by firing his arrow again. It flew into Harkon's other shoulder, and the vampire dodged backwards away from him, hissing in annoyance.

Hainin let go of the Bow with one hand in order to press it against the scratch he'd been given across his own shoulder. His hand came away red, and he cursed to himself, glancing around the cathedral.

Harkon had flown to the front of it, and was corned by both Serana and Nazir, who'd approached on either side. He glanced between the two of them, and then focused on Hainin, who shook out his arm and hurried forward, pulling back another arrow, the last of the special ones he'd been given.

"I hope you have good aim," Harkon growled at him.

"I have _excellent_ aim," Hainin replied darkly, readying the arrow.

"Wait," Serana said, and Hainin glanced over at her. Serana was glaring at Harkon. "Let me do it."

"You don't have to," Nazir told her.

"No," Serana agreed, "but I want too."

Hainin lowered the bow, and exchanged a look with Nazir. The Redguard didn't seem convinced, but he merely shrugged. Hainin then turned to Serana, and offered her the bow and arrow.

Serana took them, and pulled the arrow back in the string, bringing the bow up to her shoulder.

"Serana… your own father," Harkon said, staring at her. "You must not do this. We are family."

"Whatever family we had died long ago," Serana told him. "You saw to that." Without another word, she let the arrow fly.

Hainin watched in amazement as it sailed through the air, and landed squarely in Harkon's throat.

"Move!" Serana shouted, backing away rapidly.

Nazir grabbed Hainin's arm and pulled him away as well, just as Harkon burst into flames with a loud screech. The skin fell from his bones, and he disappeared in a cloud of bats and red energy. Hainin put up his hand to avoid going blind.

When the light had faded, Hainin lowered his hand and saw that all that remained of the vampire lord was a pile of gore and ash.

"Yuck," he couldn't help but say, and then he saw the look on Serana's face. "Sorry."

"Don't be," she said, walking over to where Nazir had pulled him. She handed him the bow, and glanced down at the remains. "It's what had to be done."

Hainin glanced over his shoulder as the door to the cathedral opened, and Isran came through it. He hesitated for a moment, eyeing the remains of skeletons and gargoyles, and then he approached where the three of them stood.

"So," he started, stopping beside Nazir. "The beast is destroyed, and Auriel's Bow is in safe hands." He bowed his head. "I ask for forgiveness, for the way I have treated all of you these past weeks. I could not see beyond my own hatred, and it showed my darkest side."

Nazir shrugged when Hainin lifted an eyebrow at him, and then Hainin shrugged back and turned to Isran. "Don't worry about it," he said.

Isran lifted his head, obviously relieved. He glanced at Serana. "I… I suppose this is difficult for you."

Serana raised her shoulders in a small shrug. "I think my father really died a long time ago. This was just... the end of of something else. I did what needed to be done. Nothing more."

"I think perhaps you did more than that," Isran said after a moment. "You have my thanks."

Serana dipped her head, and Isran turned back to Hainin. "You've served Skyrim well. Even with these vampires gone, the fight isn't completely over. Once we're settled back in at the fort, there will be more work to do. We'd be honored to have you join us."

Hainin smiled, and glanced at Nazir. "Sorry, but uh…" He turned back to Isran and shook his head. "Vampire hunting isn't really my thing."

Isran smiled back. "I understand. Still, you'll always be welcome." He nodded to the three of them, and then turned and left the cathedral. When he was gone, Nazir looked at Hainin, and gestured to Serana, who'd walked away a few paces, her head hanging a bit.

Hainin frowned in confusion, and Nazir gave him a look. After a moment, Hainin understood what he was trying to say, and he nodded back. He then turned towards Serana, and placed a gentle hand on her arm. She glanced at him, and he tilted his head.

"What are you going to do now?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted quietly. "I suppose I could go get my mother, and then we could come back here. Maybe I could even stay with the Dawnguard." She smiled sadly. "I'll figure something out. Thank you, for helping me. I'll… I'll never forget you."

"Maybe you won't have too," Hainin said, and Serana's smile faded a bit as confusion took over. Hainin cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know how you'll react to this, but, uh… how would you feel about maybe joining the Dark Brotherhood?"

Serana blinked at him, and Hainin grinned weakly. "I mean, you don't have to, of course, but… it's an option."

There was a moment of silence as Serana stared at him, and then at Nazir, who winked at her. She then looked at Hainin again, and smiled more warmly this time, dipping her head. "I'd like nothing better."

Hainin's grin widened. "Great!" he said happily. "We're lucky to have you." He looked from her to Nazir. "And… I think that means we can go home."

"Finally," Nazir sighed in relief, moving closer to him. Hainin smirked a bit when Nazir's hand slipped into his own, and when Serana's eyes glittered as she gazed at the two of them. "Let's go home."

"I don't think I've ever agreed with anything you've said anymore than I do with that," Hainin told him. "Let's go."


	24. The Epilogue (Two Weeks Late(?))

**I do not own Elder Scrolls V, nor will I ever.**

* * *

"Nightshade does grows best in complete darkness?" Babette asked, and Serana nodded. "I knew it! Too bad we can't get that here."

"Well, maybe not, but we can sort of fabricate complete darkness," Serana said, and Babette frowned in confusion. "Come, I'll show you."

Hainin watched as the two vampires disappeared up the stairs towards the garden, and he smiled to himself. He should've guessed that the two of them would get along as well as they were. Babette seemed to have never had a friend quite like Serana, and Hainin was glad that she did, now.

Everything seemed to be going wonderfully, in fact. He and Nazir had settled back into the routine of the Sanctuary rather easily after being welcomed home by everyone. Cicero had been elated by their return, and he hadn't let Hainin out of his sight for about… ten minutes. Those ten minutes were something that Hainin never wanted to experience again.

Serana was getting along with everyone, but she and Babette shared a kindred spirit, and she'd grown very fond of the vampire child rather quickly. She seemed to fit right in with the assassins, and, even though Hainin hadn't given her a job to do yet, he had a feeling that she'd handle it without any trouble.

The Elder Scrolls, all three of them, had been discovered in Castle Volkihar and sent to Winterhold with Nazir's finest regards. In return, a small chest full of gold had arrived at the Sanctuary a week or so later. Obviously, they'd spent it on cleaning up a few of the rooms that hadn't yet been touched.

Hainin had had a letter from Cry waiting for him when they'd returned home, and he'd sent her a response almost immediately, telling her that the vampire problem had been dealt with, as that she needn't worry about it. Letters hadn't stopped flowing between the two of them since.

And Nazir and Hainin… well, things had been going nicely.

"Mm." Hainin leaned back against Nazir's chest when he felt arms wrap around his waist. "I was wondering where you had disappeared to."

"Just resituating a few things in our room," Nazir replied, pressing a kiss against Hainin's cheek.

Our room. Hainin smiled to himself at the sound of it. "Everything fitting?" he queried.

"Perfectly," Nazir responded easily. "Almost as though it was meant to."

"It probably was," Hainin said. He turned around in Nazir's arms so that he could wrap his own around the Redguard, who smirked at him.

"You believe in that nonsense?" he asked, and Hainin shrugged.

"Maybe a bit more now than I used to," he said. "Why? Do you think it's ridiculous?"

"A bit," Nazir admitted, "but it's all the same to me."

Hainin pressed a soft kiss against his lips, and then they both glanced upwards when there was crash from the upper floor.

"Cicero!" Babette and Serana exclaimed at the same time.

"Cicero is so very sorry, vampires!" Cicero cried, and there was more clattering from upstairs.

Hainin turned back to Nazir with a chuckle. "Didn't you miss this place with all your heart?" he asked.

"Yes," Nazir said, pulling him closer, and in the direction of their room. "And I mean that."

Hainin willingly moved with him. "Me, too," he said, and caught Nazir's mouth with another kiss.

* * *

 **Yeah, sorry. It's been a couple of weeks, and this is really short, but it's also the end of the Fiction!**

 **We did it!**

 **Now we can move on to Ziris's story, which features at lot more backstory, and less... canon.**

 **Although there is some canon.**

 **Well. What can you expect from a FanFiction?**

 **I'll see you on the flip side.**


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